Maria Sharapova: Banned tennis star to occupy time during two-year drug ban by attending Harvard Business School

Sharapova said she 'can't wait to start the program' after posting a picture of her outside the Harvard Business School on Facebook

Maria Sharapova posted a picture on her Facebook page to confirm her enrollment at the Harvard Business School (Facebook/Maria Sharapova)

Maria Sharapova will occupy her time during a two-year ban from tennis by attending the Harvard Business School.

The 29-year-old was given a two-year ban from tennis at the start of the month after she tested positive for meldonium at the Australian Open, a banned substance that the Russian revealed she had been taking for the past 10 years.

Meldonium was added to the banned substances list by the World Anti-Doping Agency [Wada] at the start of 2016, but Sharapova’s team failed to notice the changes and she was suspended before receiving her ban after testing positive for the drub after her Australian Open defeat by Serena Williams.

Sharapova will be free to play again in January 2018, although the five-time grand slam champion has appealed her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport [Cas] in Switzerland in an attempt to either overturn or reduce the suspension imposed by the International Tennis Federation.

But while a decision is expected to be made by 18 July, it appears Sharapova is already making plans for the future. She posted a picture on her Facebook account of her sitting next to the Harvard Business School sign in Boston, Massachusetts, along with the caption: “Not sure how this happened but Hey Harvard! Can't wait to start the program!”

Sharapova’s ban currently runs until the 26 January 2018, meaning she will miss both Wimbledon and the US Open this year as well as all four grand slam events in 2017, having already missed the French Open earlier this month. She has also been ruled out of Russia’s team for the Olympics, although the nation’s participation at Rio 2016 is in major doubt after the Russian Athletics Federation was banned from international competition due to allegations of state-sponsored doping and cover-ups.

Sharapova was named in Russia’s team for the Olympics, and if her ban was reduced to six months by the Cas along with back-dating it to the time of her positive test as the original suspension did, then she could still play in Rio as he ban would be lifted on 26 July, a week before the start of Rio 2016.