Tennis Star Maria Sharapova Personal Life

Personal Life

Off the court, Sharapova's has landed many major commercial endorsements with companies including Nike, Avon, Evian, Tag Heuer, Porsche and Tiffany & Co., among others. She was the highest-paid female athlete until 2015, earning $29.7 million.

After the March 2016 announcement that Sharapova had failed a drug test, Nike, Tag Heuer and Porsche suspended their relationships with the tennis star. Nike, however, announced it would continue to support her when the tribunal released its decision in June 2016. "Maria has always made her position clear, has apologized for her mistake and is now appealing the length of the ban," the company said in a statement. "Based on the decision of the ITF and their factual findings, we hope to see Maria back on court and will continue to partner with her."

Sharapova's other business ventures include launching her own candy lineSugarpova in 2013 with Jeff Rubin, the founder of It's Sugar. A portion of the sales are donated to the Maria Sharapova Foundation to support her charitable causes. “It started when I was a little girl in Russia, and my dad would reward me with a lollipop or chocolate after a long day of practice,” Sharapova writes on the Sugarpova website. “It stood out to me then–and still today–that there’s no reason why hard work can’t be rewarded with a little sweet treat. Because the key to a happy, healthy life for me is this idea of Moderation in Moderation–you can 100% have your cake (or candy) and enjoy it, too.”

In her personal life, Sharapova began a relationship with Slovenian professional basketball player Sasha Vujacic in 2009. After a year of dating, the couple announced that they were engaged in October 2010. During a post-match conference at the 2012 U.S. Open, Sharapova announced that the engagement was off and that her relationship with Vujacic had ended. She dated Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov from 2012 to 2015.

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Maria Sharapova suspended 2 years

Maria Sharapova was suspended for two years by the International Tennis Federation on Wednesday, for testing positive for the banned substance meldonium.

She immediately responded by saying she would appeal the decision.

The ruling by an independent three-person panel appointed by the ITF said Sharapova, 29, did not intend to cheat but that she bore "sole responsibility'' and "very significant fault'' for the positive test.

"The ITF tribunal unanimously concluded that what I did was not intentional," Sharapova said in a statement. "The tribunal found that I did not seek treatment from my doctor for the purpose of obtaining a performance enhancing substance. The ITF spent tremendous amount of time and resources trying to prove I intentionally violated the anti-doping rules and the tribunal concluded I did not. You need to know that the ITF asked the tribunal to suspend me for four years -- the required suspension for an intentional violation -- and the tribunal rejected the ITF's position.

The ITF, last month before the tribunal, asked for Sharapova to be suspended for four years, but the rules state that she could not be suspended for longer than two years if it was deemed that her use of the drug was not intentional.

"I cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension," Sharapova said. "The tribunal, whose members were selected by the ITF, agreed that I did not do anything intentionally wrong, yet they seek to keep me from playing tennis for two years."

The WTA issued a statement on the ruling, saying in part, "It is important at all times for players to be aware of the rules and to follow them. In this case, Maria has taken responsibility for her 

mistake from the outset. The WTA supports the process that the ITF and Maria have followed."

Sharapova and the Russian team had hoped she would be cleared in time to compete at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August, but after the ruling, Russian Tennis Federation president Shamil Tarpischev told the Tass news agency that Ekaterina Makarova would replace her.

She was provisionally suspended by the ITF in March, when she announced she failed a doping test in January, at the Australian Open. Sharapova maintained that she was unaware that the drug she had been taking since 2006, mildronate, was also known as meldonium. That drug became a banned substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list as of Jan. 1.

Her lawyer, John Haggerty, said Sharapova took the substance after that date.

In addition to Sharapova's testing positive at the Australian Open, the ITF said she also failed a test for meldonium in an out-of-competition control in Moscow on Feb. 2.

"I am disappointed that the ITF tribunal gave Maria an unfairly harsh suspension because she is such a famous athlete and they wanted to make an example out of her," Haggerty said in a statement Wednesday, adding that he believes Sharapova's suspension will be reduced at her appeal.

Sharapova said in March she had started using the drug, which boosts blood and oxygen flow, under a doctor's guidance a decade ago because of irregular electrocardiogram results and a family history of heart issues and diabetes.

The governing body argued that Sharapova's records with the doctor ended in 2013, yet she continued to take the drug.

The appeal will be sent to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where three judges will make the ruling. Both Sharapova and the ITF get to choose one of the judges. The decision will be binding.

By rule, Sharapova had to be suspended at least one year because she did not dispute that she took mildronate after Jan. 1, when it appeared on the banned list.

The sentence will be retroactive to the Australian Open, so if Sharapova's original suspension is kept, she will sit out through the 2018 Australian Open. That would mean she would be 31 years old when she competes in her next Grand Slam tournament.