Maria Sharapova scored a double win today.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced Sharapova's doping suspension from two years to 15 months, making her eligible to return to the pro circuit next April.

More: Sharapova Sentence Reduced to 15 Months

The 29-year-old Sharapova also received strong support from her long-time racket sponsor, Head.

In a statement posted on the brand's Facebook page, Head CEO Johan Eliasch, questioned both the legitimacy of Sharapova's initial suspension and Therapeutic Use Exemptions granted to some tennis players at the Olympics.

"It is highly unfair that Maria, an upstanding individual of the highest moral and ethical conduct, was banned from playing competitive tennis while not actively engaging in any behaviors that could be considered cheating," Eliasch said. "This calls into questions the revelations about certain Olympic athletes who were granted therapeutic use exemptions for substances that could most certainly be considered performance enhancing and have proven to be performance enhancing under significant clinical testing, while meldonium, the substance that Maria had been taking, has yet to be proven under any significant clinical testing to have any performance enhancing benefits."

Eliasch said Sharapova's case shows there is "an urgent need for a wholesale comprehensive review and change to the anti-doping system in identifying performance enhancing drugs and subsequently in informing athletes of the risks associated with the usages of certain substances no mater the circumstances."



Last month, a Russian cyber espionage group hacked the World Anti Doping Agency data base and posted medical records for several players online, including Venus Williams and Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Laura Siegemund.

All of those players previously held Therapeutic Use Exemptions granted by the International Tennis Federation and did not violate any World Anti-Doping Agency rules.

A Therapeutic Use Exemption permits a player to use a prohibited medication without committing an anti-doping rule violation, provided the player has a medical condition warranting use of the drug and that all use is in accordance with the conditions of the TUE.

WADA confirmed and condemned the cyber hacks in a statement.

Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve