LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Maria Sharapova appealed her two-year doping ban to the highest court in sports on Tuesday, with an expedited ruling to be issued next month ahead of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Sharapova filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport seeking to overturn or reduce the suspension imposed by the International Tennis Federation last week after the Russian tested positive for meldonium at the Australian Open in January.
CAS said both sides agreed to an "expedited procedure," which will allow the court to issue its ruling by July 18 at the latest. If the suspension is thrown out, Sharapova would be eligible to compete at the Rio Games, which open on Aug. 5. CAS said it hasn't decided whether to hold a hearing.
Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, announced she would appeal following an announcement of her suspension on June 7. An independent three-person panel appointed by the ITF said Sharapova did not intend to cheat because she didn't know meldonium was banned, but that she bore "sole responsibility" and "very significant fault" for the positive test.
Sharapova was provisionally suspended by the ITF in early March, when she announced at a news conference in Los Angeles that she had failed a doping test in January. Sharapova said then she was not aware that the World Anti-Doping Agency banned athletes from using meldonium, also known as mildronate, from Jan. 1.
In addition to testing positive at the Australian Open, Sharapova also failed a test for meldonium in an out-of-competition control in Moscow on Feb. 2, the ITF said.
Sharapova's ban is due to end on Jan. 25, 2018.
Sharapova said she first was prescribed the Latvian-made drug, typically used for heart conditions, for medical reasons in 2006. She could have been banned from competing for up to four years.
Sharapova appeals ban, wants ruling by July
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