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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tennis star Maria Sharapova's appeal of her two-year tennis ban over doping has been reduced to 15 months, the Court of Arbitration for Sport&amp;nbsp;announced&amp;nbsp;on Tuesday.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;She will be eligible to compete again in April 2017, meaning she will miss the Australian Open but will be able to compete in the French Open.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In its statement, the CAS&amp;nbsp;said they did not agree with \"many of the conclusions of the [ITF] Tribunal.\"\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, was suspended by the International Tennis Federation after testing positive for&amp;nbsp;Meldonium, also known as&amp;nbsp;Mildronate, at the Australian Open in January. The drug is not approved for sale in the United States, where Sharapova trains and lives.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sharapova said in a statement that she is \"counting the days\" when she can return to the court.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"I have taken responsibility from the very beginning for not knowing that the over-the-counter supplement I had been taking for the last ten years was no longer allowed,\" Sharapova said. \"But I also learned how much better other Federations were at notifying their athletes of the rule change, especially in Eastern Europe where Mildronate is commonly taken by millions of people.\"\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"Now that this process is over, I hope the ITF and other relevant tennis anti-doping authorities will study what these other Federations did, so that no other tennis player will have to go through what I went through. And to my fans, (Hello SharaFamily!), I thank you so much for living and breathing so many of these tough months together. During this time, I have learned the true meaning of a fan and I am so fortunate to have had your support. I\u2019m coming back soon and I can\u2019t wait.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;HEAD CEO Johan Eliasch went further in his criticism of the process, questioning Olympic athletes who were given therapeutic use exemptions and allowed to compete, adding there needs to be a \"wholesale comprehensive review and change in the anti-doping system\" to identify performance-enhancing drugs.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sharapova originally announced the positive test in a press conference, and said she had been prescribed the drug since 2006 to treat a family history of heart disease.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sharapova also claims that she was unaware the drug was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances on Jan. 1, 2016. The drug has been found to&amp;nbsp;boost blood flow and enhance athletic performance.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The ITF initially determined that Sharapova may not have had intent to cheat but was \u201Cvery significant at fault\u201D for the positive test.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;Beyond the Baseline Podcast: Eric&amp;nbsp;Butorac&amp;nbsp;on new&amp;nbsp;USTA&amp;nbsp;role, retirement&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;She initially appealed the suspension and hoped for a ruling in July with the aim of returning to competition for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but her team and the&amp;nbsp;ITF&amp;nbsp;needed more time to investigate and prepare their cases.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sharapova would have returned to competition in Jan. 2018, if the ruling had been upheld.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;\u2013 Chris Chavez and Scooby Axson&lt;/em&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/tennis/2016/10/04/maria-sharapova-doping-suspension-appeal-cas-decision>