People USA — August 21, 2017

MARIA

SHARAPOVA

Stronger

Af ter

Scandal

IN A NEW MEMOIR THE TENNIS STAR

CHRONICLES HER RISE TO FAME,

HER DEVASTATING 2016 SUSPENSION—

AND HOW SHE’S COMING BACK FIGHTING

ByPATRICK GOMEZ

A

five-time Grand Slam

winner and 2012 Olym-

pic silver medalist,

Maria Sharapova was

poised for success at the

2016 Summer Olympics in Rio when her

dreams of gold disappeared. In early 2016

she tested positive for meldonium (also

called Mildronate), a supplement she’d

taken for years that had just been added to

the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned

substances list, and the tennis pro was

suspended from her sport for 15 months.

“It’s probably the toughest thing an ath-

lete can go through,” says Sharapova, 30.

But now she’s back: On July 31 she won

her first U.S. tournament in almost two

years. Her comeback hasn’t been com-

pletely smooth. There are still some who

think she used meldonium to enhance her

performance (see box), and she was side-

lined by an arm injury after her recent win.

But the Russian-born athlete is used to ris-

ing above adversity. “I don’t know a lot of

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Telling Her Story

“It’s less a tennis

book and more an

inspirational story,”

Sharapova says of her

memoir (out Sept. 12).

Going all out for her

first post-suspension

win,at Stanford on

July 31.

FROM TOP: LACHLAN CUNNINGHAM/GETTY IMAGES; BJORN IOOSS/TRUNK ARCHIVE; PETER ZAMBOUROS