Maria Sharapova was banned for two years after failing a drugs test yesterday, but insisted that she will appeal the decision, which could effectively end her career, reports AFP.
Russian star Sharapova, 29, tested positive for the controversial banned medication meldonium during January's Australian Open.
A statement on the Internationl Tennis Federation (ITF) website said "an Independent Tribunal" had "found that Maria Sharapova committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation" and consequently had "disqualified the affected results and imposed a period of ineligibility of two years, commencing on 26 January 2016".
Sharapova blasted the ban as "unfairly harsh" in a statement on her Facebook fan page.
"While the tribunal concluded correctly that I did not intentionally violate the anti-doping rules, I cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension," fumed Sharapova.
"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. I will immediately appeal the suspension portion of this ruling to CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport."