LONDON — A lengthy ban for doping would be devastating for five-times grand slam champion Maria Sharapova but she would survive it, Nick Bollettieri, the man who discovered her, said on Tuesday.
Sharapova, 28, rocked the sporting world on Monday when she announced that she had tested positive for the banned substance meldonium at this year's Australian Open after failing to read an email saying it had been added to WADA's prohibited list.
She will be provisionally suspended from playing tennis on March 12 and could be hit with a four-year ban.
"I think it would be devastating if they didn't allow her to come back," Bollettieri, who spotted Russian Sharapova's potential when she arrived in Florida with her father in 1994, told Sky Sports.