Maria Sharapova returned to the tennis court for the first time since she tested positive for meldonium at the Australian Open in January. The former world No1 looked delighted to be back as she smiled her way through two doubles matches at the World Team Tennis Smash Hits charity event in Las Vegas. Maria Sharapova’s reduced ban is good news for her bank balance | Kevin Mitchell Read moreSharapova, who can return to competitive tennis in April after her ban was reduced was reduced from two years to 15 months by the court of arbitration for sport last week, turned out at the one-day event for the Elton John Aids Foundation. A nervous Sharapova lost a women’s doubles match in partnership with the 16-year-old American Taylor Johnson, the pair going down to Martina Navratilova and Liezel Huber. “It was a big occasion for her [Johnson] and also for me,” the 29-year-old Russian told ESPN.

Source: The Guardian October 11, 2016 08:00 UTC