Sharapova can play again in April after ban reduced

Maria Sharapova has been cleared to return to tennis next April after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced the former world number one's two-year drugs ban by nine months on Tuesday. Sharapova, who will now be clear to return from April 26 and can play in three of the year's four grand slams, said she could not wait to get back on court. The 29-year-old Russian, whose case polarized opinion and lost her sponsorship, was handed the original ban - backdated to start on Jan. 26, 2016 -