In January 2016, Maria Sharapova was handed a 15-month ban due to the use of doping, now she looked back on that period.

33-years-old Russian is one of the most successful female tennis players in history. She had won 5 Grand Slam titles and became the world no. 1 already in 2005. However, Sharapova's career saw also its dark times as she tested positive for meldonium in January 2016. Now, she looked back on that period when she said:

“The ITF insisted that I was hiding the use of meldonium, and this has nothing to do with the truth. It was cruel and painful," she said. "I didn't ask to be allowed to play [tennis] the next day, I just wanted to be treated with respect. I am always ready to fight for what I consider my right.”

"After the press conference, I deleted all social media apps from my phone to protect myself from being judged and not to go crazy," Sharapova said, according to the Punto de Break tennis blog.

"I thought I’ve never worried about what other people thought of me, but after the incident I realized that it was important to me. I was very upset. It was unpleasant to feel so insignificant,” Sharapova admitted.

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