In its decision, released Tuesday morning, the court cited Sharapova’s apparent lack of knowledge that the drug she was taking — a prescription heart medication called meldonium that can improve blood flow — had been banned by anti-doping regulators. She had appealed the two-year sentence, calling it “unfairly harsh” in a post on Facebook.

In another post following Tuesday’s decision, Sharapova called it one of her “happiest days, as I found out I can return to tennis in April.” She also called on the International Tennis Federation to look into better ways to notify athletes of changes to doping regulations.

In only her fifth Fed Cup appearance, world number four Sharapova won both singles matches, beating 11th-ranked Karolina Pliskova in straight sets on Saturday and sixth-ranked Petra Kvitova in a three-set thriller on Sunday.

“Personally it’s an incredible achievement for me because I’ve never been in a Fed Cup final and I won two of my matches,” Sharapova said.

After winning five Grand Slam titles, Sharapova is still seeking two other global trophies — the Fed Cup and Olympic gold.

Next year, she will be in contention for the Olympic title, after winning bronze in London 2012 — representing Russia despite having lived in Florida since age seven.

“There’s no better feeling than being out on the court having so many people fly here from Russia to support you,” Sharapova beamed on Sunday as the Fed Cup final was under way.

“In an event like this you’re just not playing for yourself, you’re playing for your teammates, for your country.

“It’s a very unique feeling and it’s so special.”

Yet questions over her team spirit continue to follow her.

She has played only five Fed Cup ties since earning professional status in April 2001, two of which were this year.

A decade ago, she was involved in a rift with her teammate and now Russia captain Anastasia Myskina, who threatened to boycott the Fed Cup if Sharapova was selected for the Russian team, complaining about her father’s behaviour in the stands.

Myskina, the 2004 French Open champion, also slammed Sharapova for being “more American than Russian,” accusing her of speaking Russian “with a coarse accent.”

Former fellow Russian player Elena Dementieva once said that Sharapova “grew up in America and trains there, so we don’t have anything in common.”

This week, Myskina waved the spat aside, saying she was happy to have Sharapova on the team.

“Definitely it’s very important to have Maria on the team and I want to say thank you,” Myskina said.

But after the Fed Cup final, she declined to comment on Sharapova’s presence on the team.

“We lost. That’s the end of the story,” she said.

Adding fuel to the fire, Czech media said Sharapova had shunned the rest of the team and stayed in a different Prague hotel to the others.

AFP

Serena Williams fired a warning to Maria Sharapova ahead of their Wimbledon semi-final clash as the world number one admitted she saves her best performances for clashes with her fiercest rival.

Williams and Sharapova meet on Thursday in the latest instalment of a bitter rivalry that took root on Centre Court in 2004 and still festers more than a decade later.

Sharapova caused one of the great Wimbledon shocks 11 years ago when, aged just 17, she defeated Serena in the final to claim her first Grand Slam title.

The duo’s relationship has remained frosty ever since, occasionally turning nasty — as it did when they traded barbs about Sharapova dating Williams’ ex-boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov and the American’s own relationship with her French coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

But, while Sharapova has collected five Grand Slam titles and built a global brand that makes her the world’s highest paid female athlete, the 28-year-old has still been left trailing in Serena’s wake and the Russian hasn’t come out on top since 2004.

The 33-year-old American has a 17-2 lead in their head to head record, winning their last 16 meetings and depriving Sharapova of three major titles — in the 2007 and 2015 Australian Open finals and the 2013 French Open final.

Serena has also won all four of her semi-final meetings with Sharapova, defeated the Russian in their previous Wimbledon clash in the last 16 in 2010 and routed her in the 2012 Olympic final at the All England Club. After battling back to defeat Victoria Azarenka 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the last eight — extending her winning run at Grand Slams to 26 matches and her 2015 record to 37-1 — Serena can’t wait to take on Sharapova again. “I love playing Maria. I think she brings out the best in me. I thought we had a wonderful final in Australia. It was very entertaining,” said Serena, who remains on course to hold all four major titles at once and is in the hunt to clinch the first calendar Grand Slam since 1988.

“For me, I don’t feel like I have any pressure going into this match.

“It’s just totally different for me. I don’t have anything to prove. I won all the Grand Slams, multiple times. Now it’s just I’m here just to enjoy it.

“It’s actually making me play better, which is crazy.”

– New match -Sharapova is in her fifth Wimbledon semi-final, and her first since 2011, thanks to a hard-fought 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 last eight victory over Coco Vandeweghe.

Asked if her lack of success in the Serena match-up would be weighing on her mind, Sharapova gamely insisted she still relishes the challenge of playing the American.

“I think it’s always a new match. I haven’t had great success against her. I would love to change that around. That’s how I look at it,” the world number four said.

“Definitely no secrets between each other’s games, but it will be an incredible moment for me to step out on Centre Court against her again.

“If you look at Grand Slam champions, you look at their draws, everyone comes from a few challenges, being down in matches. “There’s no easy road to victory. You’re going to have your bumps. That’s the way I see it.”

The other semi-final may end up being overshadowed by Serena v Maria Part 20, but there is still plenty of intrigue in the meeting between Agnieszka Radwanska and Garbine Muguruza. Radwanska defeated Madison Keys 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 to reach her fourth Grand Slam semi-final and her third at Wimbledon.

The Polish 13th seed reached the Wimbledon final in 2012, losing to Serena, and she hopes her experience of the latter stages of a major will stand her in good stead against Spanish 20th seed Muguruza, who will be appearing in the last four of a Grand Slam for the first time.

But Sharapova reeled off the next two games and tore through the decider against the tiring 10th seed, sealing victory in more than two and a half hours with her 39th winner.

Sharapova will climb to number two in the world rankings next week and will be seeded second in the French Open starting next Sunday.

Top seed Novak Djokovic plays Roger Federer in the men’s final later on Sunday.