Maria Sharapova failed drugs test at Australian Open

Former Tennis world number one Maria Sharapova has announced that she failed a drug test at the 2016 Australian Open.

The former Wimbledon champion said she tested positive for Meldonium which was a medicine that she took legally for 10 years.

"I did fail the test and take full responsibility for it," said Sharapova, who won the Wimbledon title as a 17-year-old in 2004.

"For the past 10 years I have been given a medicine called mildronate by my family doctor and a few days ago after I received a letter from the ITF [International Tennis Federation] I found out it also has another name of meldonium, which I did not know."

The Russian noted that the substance became prohibited on January 1st but admitted that she did not look at a list of banned substances for 2016 that the World Anti-Doping Agency had sent on December the 22nd. Sharapova has not competed since losing to Serena Williams in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

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