Maria Sharapova admitted that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open.

Chatter On Maria Sharapova's Split From Grigor Dimitrov

On Monday, BBC reported that the Grand Slam champion tested positive for meldonium, something she has reportedly been taking for approximately 10 years for medical issues.

Sharapova explained the situation in the post where it seems that she is accepting whatever happens next.

See Details On Maria Sharapova's Dress At 2013 Australian Open

"I did fail the test and take full responsibility for it," she said. "For the past 10 years I have been given a medicine called mildronate by my family doctor and a few days ago after I received a letter from the ITF [International Tennis Federation] I found out it also has another name of meldonium, which I did not know."

Apparently, the World Anti-Doping Agency analyzed what was being consumed and returned a positive for meldonium. Sharapova claims that while her medication wasn't banned before, the rules recently changed and she was unaware of this.

"It is very important for you to understand that for 10 years this medicine was not on Wada's banned list and I had been legally taking that medicine for the past 10 years," the tennis athlete said. "But on 1 January the rules had changed and meldonium became a prohibited substance, which I had not known. I received an email on 22 December from Wada about the changes happening to the banned list and you can see prohibited items- and I didn't click on that link."

Tags
Maria Sharapova