Tennis former world No. 1 women's singles player Maria Sharapova may compete at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, the President of the Russian Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpishchev told TASS on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old Russian sports celebrity is now eligible to officially return to tennis courts beginning April 26 after the five-time grand slam winner has had her initially two-year drugs ban reduced to just 15 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last October 2016.

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According to a published report of the CNN, Sharapova tested positive for a banned substance known as "meldonium" at the Australian Open in January last year and was subsequently suspended for two years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). However, CAS pared down nine months off that original verdict that shorten the Russian tennis star's suspension.

The medicament is a blood flow-promoting drug, which is used to treat diabetes and low magnesium. It was added to the prohibited list this year because it was found out that the drug aids oxygen uptake and endurance.

In early March of last year, Sharapova made a press briefing and was the first to announce that her doping tests in the Melbourne-based majors revealed the presence of the performance-enhancing drug meldonium in her body system. Following the announcement, the 2012 London Olympics silver medalist was provisionally suspended from all tennis-related activities.

On June 9, 2016, she filed an appeal with the CAS against her two-year suspension where eventually Sharapova got a favorable verdict from the Switzerland's Lausanne-based international quasi-judicial body.

"Sharapova may play for the Russian team and is able to win gold at the 2020 Olympics. The sole question here is her wish," Tarpishchev said.

Because of the imposed ban, Sharapova had to miss the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, staged in the city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil last August.

Sharapova has won 35 career singles titles under her name and reportedly has career earnings of over $36 million.

TagsMaria Sharapova, ITF, grand slam, meldonium, performance enhancing drugs