| The Florida-based Sharapova was originally banned for two 
				years after testing positive for meldonium at last year's 
				Australian Open.
 The former world number one, one of the highest paid athletes in 
				the world in the past decade, admitted she had used meldonium 
				for years and was not aware it had been banned since the start 
				of 2016.
 
 Her suspension was later cut to 15 months on appeal.
 
 "I could not be happier to have my first match back on tour at 
				one of my favourite tournaments," Russian Sharapova, who won the 
				indoor clay event three years running from 2012, said on the 
				tournament website.
 
 "I can't wait to see all my great fans and to be back doing 
				what I love."
 
 She will return to action in time to contest the season's second 
				grand slam at Roland Garros. The French Open begins on May 22.
 
 "I’m really happy for Maria that she’s back after a long break. 
				Particularly pleasing for me is that it’s going to be our 
				audience that gets to watch her comeback live," said tournament 
				director Markus Guenthardt.
 
 "(It)...is certain to be one of the sporting and emotional 
				highlights of our anniversary tournament."
 
 Sharapova, who will turn 30 on April 19, had earned $29.7 
				million in 2015 as the world's highest paid female athlete.
 
 She had called the International Tennis Federation's (ITF) 
				original ruling "unfairly harsh" as an independent tribunal had 
				found that she had not intentionally violated anti-doping rules.
 
 (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
 
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