Tennis Star Maria Sharapova Announces She Failed A Drug Test

The five-time Grand Slam champion said she is not retiring.

In a press conference Monday, Russian tennis champion Maria Sharapova made a surprise announcement that she failed a drug test and will take a hiatus from the sport.

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"A few days ago I got a letter from the [International Tennis Federation] that I had failed a drug test at the Australian Open," Sharapova said.

She said she had been taking a medication called Mildronate for 10 years before it was put on the federation's ban list in January. She said she didn't realize it was placed on the list.

"I was given this medicine by my doctor for several health issues I was having back in 2006," Sharapova said.

She described the issues as repeatedly catching the flu, magnesium deficiency, irregular EKG results, and the first signs of diabetes, which she is genetically predisposed to, she said.

"It made me healthy and that's why I continued to take it," she said.

The five-time Grand Slam champion has suffered numerous shoulder injuries and has played only four events in the past eight months: three WTA tournaments and the 2015 Fed Cup final. She withdrew from this week’s' BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

When she called the press conference, many assumed the 28-year-old was to announce her retirement.

"I don't want to end my career this way and I really hope I will be given another chance to play this game," Sharapova said in a somber tone. "If I was ever going to announce a retirement it would not be in a downtown LA hotel with a fairly ugly carpet."

Sharapova said on December 22 she received an email including a link to a list of new prohibited items. "I did not click that link," she said.

Mildronate, or "meldonium," was one of numerous medications her doctor prescribed for her symptoms, she said. She added that she did not know the alternative name for the medicine, preventing her further her from understanding it had been banned by the federation.

Sharapova does not yet know the consequences of the test failure, she said, but she said she will be taking a hiatus from competing and will work with the federation to discuss the next steps.

"I've let my fans down, I let the sport down that I've been playing since the age of four that I love so deeply," Sharapova said.

Sharapova is currently the 7th ranked player on the WTA tour and has been the highest-paid female athlete for over a decade.