Maria Sharapova has been banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation for using a prohibited drug. The Russian was provisionally banned in March after testing positive for meldonium at January’s Australian Open. The heart disease drug, which 29-year-old Sharapova says she has been taking since 2006 for health issues, became a banned substance on 1 January 2016.

The five-time Grand Slam winner said she “cannot accept” the “unfairly harsh” ban – and will appeal. Sharapova will challenge the suspension, which is backdated to 26 January 2016, at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

In a statement, she said the tribunal concluded her offence was “unintentional” and that she had not tried to use a “performance-enhancing substance”. But she claimed the ITF had asked the tribunal to impose a four-year ban, adding it “spent tremendous amounts of time and resources trying to prove I intentionally violated the anti-doping rules”.

Did You Know?

• Sharapova was Forbes’ highest-paid female athlete for 11 consecutive years, until Williams moved above her this year. The American made £28.9m from winnings and endorsements to Sharapova’s £21.9m.
• Aged 17, Sharapova became the first Russian to win Wimbledon in 2004, added the US Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008, before completing a career Grand Slam with the French Open title in 2012.
• She won the French Open again in 2014, but the 2018 tournament in Paris is the next major Sharapova can enter, when she will be 31.