Sharapova thanks fans, vows to fight media distortions

Embattled Russian tennis star, Maria Sharapova; has chastized a section of the media for what she says are blatant distortions, exaggerations and misreporting of news about her doping case.

The five-time Grand Slam winner wrote a lengthy social media (facebook) post on Friday, thanking her fans for their support and also explaining the circumstances surrounding her positive test for a banned substance, Meldonium.

‘‘You have shown me a tremendous outpouring of support, and I’m so grateful for it. But I have also been aware that some – not all, but some – in the media distort, exaggerate and fail to accurately report the facts about what happened.

A report said that I had been warned five times about the upcoming ban on the medicine I was taking. That is not true and it never happened,’‘ she wrote.

Sharapova maintains her earlier stance of ‘not making excuses’ for the positive test result and provisional ban by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) but explains that the rather cumbersome processes that a person had to go through to find out which substances had been freshly banned was partly blamable.

‘‘In other words, in order to be aware of this “warning”, you had to open an email with a subject line having nothing to do with anti-doping, click on a webpage, enter a password, enter a username, hunt, click, hunt, click, hunt, click, scroll and read. I guess some in the media can call that a warning. I think most people would call it too hard to find,’‘ she lamented.

She rejected reportage that she had been warned as many as five times about the banned drug, adding that she used it strictly on the basis of prescription by her doctor and also in low doses recommended.

Sharapova denies receiving FIVE warnings telling her that meldonium was going to be banned https://t.co/mCCZPZlxcL pic.twitter.com/euZ43p2sk7

— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) March 12, 2016

She reiterated her desire to see through these challenging times and return to the sport in the shortest possible time.

‘‘I’m proud of how I have played the game. I have been honest and upfront. I won’t pretend to be injured so I can hide the truth about my testing. I look forward to the ITF hearing at which time they will receive my detailed medical records.

I hope I will be allowed to play again. But no matter what, I want you, my fans, to know the truth and have the facts,’‘ she concluded.