Maria Sharapova's reputation is tarnished by her doping ban but she will still be remembered for her on-court exploits, according to Pam Shriver. The Russian, 29, had her > suspension cut from two years to 15 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday.
Shriver feels Sharapova, whose ban runs until April 2017, has had her reputation damaged, but her five Grand-Slam titles are hard to forget. "People will remember her for many things and among them is this drugs suspension," the 1978 US Open runner-up told Omnisport .
> Read: ITF tried to make an example of me, says Sharapova
"I don't think it will be the primary thing, I think the primary thing Maria will be remembered for is being one of the great competitors of her generation. And someone who has been tough when she competes and hasn't been afraid - in the five times she's won majors and the career Grand Slam – hasn't been afraid of the big moments. But, this will be among the things she will be remembered for."
Poorly timed
Sharapova was critical of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in her first statement after her suspension was reduced. Shriver said it was poorly timed by Sharapova, who hoped the ITF had learned from the process.
She said: "I just thought in her statement that I loved the part where she talked about her love of the game and missing playing. Obviously she's been very straightforward about her mistakes in this but I just thought in this statement it didn't seem right to sort of point the finger at other organisations – the ITF, or WADA, and things she felt that they did wrong. Let's face it, I think everybody in this process can learn and become better from this process.
"But I just thought it was more the time to just be grateful to have nine months left of a suspension and be able to back competing at the end of April instead of the following January. I thought part of it was fine but I didn't think it was the right thing to do to point a negative at the ITF."
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