Can Maria Sharapova come back from 2-year ban?

Can Maria Sharapova come back from this? Those inside tennis are unsure.

Sharapova was issued a two-year ban by the International Tennis Federation on Wednesday for using the banned drug meldonium. The suspension is backdated to January, meaning Sharapova – who said she will appeal – is out until January 2018.

She’ll be nearing her 31st birthday by then, and for a player who has dealt with myriad injuries in her career, working with a body that is prone to break downs.

Chris Evert, the former world No. 1 and ESPN commentator, thinks that’s it. This is the end for Maria.

“I don’t think she can do a two-year ban. I don’t think she can come back,” Evert told USA TODAY Sports in a phone interview. “The players are only getting better. The workload, the training is only harder. She has been on tour for 15 years. You just wonder.”

Evert added, “I would be very surprised. I would be surprised to see her come back.”

But Evert’s ESPN colleague, Pam Shriver, a former world No. 1 in doubles, sees the time off as most important for Sharapova in a sport that continues to get older.

“I think a lot depends how she spends that year and a half," Shriver said in a phone interview. "She is going to be 30 when the suspension is over. If you think of all the tennis players are playing great tennis from 30 to 35, it’s an era of tennis when you’re still in your prime at that age. A two-year absence is devastating in so many ways for Maria, but what I want to know is how they are going to spend that time? Is she going to compete in tennis events outside of this jurisdiction?”

Lindsay Davenport, a former world No. 1 and Tennis Channel contributor, said she sees the ban as fair because of Sharapova’s lack of transparency that she was taking the drug. Players are asked to submit forms listing what they are taking.

“To me, her declaration forms would be huge in her innocence and intent,” Davenport wrote in an email. “As a former player who has filled out those forms many times, it clearly asks for everything that you put in your body, from Advil to vitamins to birth control to you name it. The fact that she never once wrote it down even though she tested positive multiple times in 2015 and twice in 2016 is very incriminating to me.”

Davenport sees a comeback for Sharapova hinging on the length of ban: Should she get it lessened, there is a chance.

“If the two years stands, I don't think she will come back,” Davenport said.

Maria Sharapova receives two-year ban for meldonium use

Sharapova released a statement on Wednesday that her team plans to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Professor Dionne Koller, director of the Center for Sport and the Law at the University of Baltimore, told USA TODAY Sports that the two-year ban is typical in cases like these and that a reduced sentence is unlikely for Sharapova.

"It’s tough to say," said Koller. " The reason why I would say she doesn’t have a great deal of chance to have it reduced is because she didn’t have any great reason for taking the drug. She tried to argue that is was for therapeutic use or that she should get exempted, and that didn't hold up with the panel. She did not fall in the meldonium grace period that WADA gave; the drug was found in her in a remarkable level."

"It’s hard to read the tea leaves, but I don’t think she can get it cut down or that she’ll get it cut down by much," Koller continued. "She didn’t have any excuse. She is taking the drug and it was found in her system. That’s a two-year ban. I think they will uphold the two years or something very close to it.”

Koller said the CAS appeal hearing could happen in the next few weeks, if not months.

“The idea of CAS is to move quickly,” she said, “so it could happen in the matter of weeks once they have filed."

Evert remains shocked that Sharapova did not check the updated banned list on Jan. 1 to learn that meldonium had been added.

“She is one of the most organized professionals out there,” Evert said. “To not even check the drugs that… I’m speechless. This is a woman who is all about control both on and off the court. I don’t get it. It’s a tough way to go out for her.”

Shriver said that Sharapova, who is known for her meticulous planning, needs to utilize that skill should she want to make a comeback.

“Sharapova at age 85 will be competitive, she has it in her DNA,” she said. “This offers her a total rest and ability to recover in ways that she hasn't before. When you're competing, even in your time off you always feel pressure, you feel that you're under the gun. If I was her camp – and they have failed her miserably in so many ways – they need a smart plan of attack.”

Regardless of a comeback, Evert said this will no doubt follow Sharapova for the rest of her career.

“I’m afraid it will. It will follow her around,” she said. “That will be her introduction: The five-time Grand Slam champion that tested positive. It’s really sad in a way, but it happened and she can’t change it.”