The former world number one immediately announced she would appeal the International Tennis Federation ruling, while the severity of the ban has surprised many observers.
The Sharapova grunt is one of the most famous cries heard on the tennis court but have we now heard the last of it on the grand prix circuit?
Maria Sharapova has been given a two-year ban from the sport after testing positive for the banned drug meldonium during this year's Australian Open in Melbourne.
The International Tennis Federation ruled the world number 26 was the "sole author" of her misfortune by continuing to take the substance after it was outlawed by the World Anti Doping Authority on the 1st of January.
The glamorous Russian star had defended herself by claiming she was prescribed the drug by a doctor to treat diabetes and low magnesium levels.
She immediately took to her Facebook page to tell her fans she would be appealing the ruling.
"You need to know that the ITF asked the tribunal to suspend me for four years - the required suspension for an intentional violation -- and the tribunal rejected the ITF's position. While the tribunal concluded correctly that I did not intentionally violate the anti-doping rules, I cannot accept an unfairly harsh two-year suspension. The tribunal, whose members were selected by the ITF, agreed that I did not do anything intentionally wrong, yet they seek to keep me from playing tennis for two years. I will immediately appeal the suspension portion of this ruling to CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport."
Former coach Gabe Jaramillo agrees his one-time charge has been treated harshly.
"They tried to prove that she did it intentionally and that she went to a doctor trying to enhance her capacity but they were not able to prove that. For about six years she had been complaining about some issues with heart problems and stuff, that it was a medical issue and as coaches, when a doctor gives a medication we assume everything is OK."
The size of the ban, too, has surprised New York Times tennis writer Ben Rothenberg.
But he says the ruling shows tennis authorities believe Sharapova must take ultimate responsibility.
"...not any one on her team, not her doctors, especially because it seems like she was one of the few people on her team who knew she was taking it. She didn't write it up as a declared substance she was taking on the form you fill out when you take a doping test and the ITF seemed to view that as particuarly reprehensible, hiding her obfuscation of the substance even though she thought it was unnecessary because it wasn't something she took daily."
And questions remain about whether meldonium really is performance-enhancing.
According to Ben Rothenberg, the jury is very much still out.
"It's marketed as something that improves cardiac function and so from that point of view WADA felt justified in banning it even without the research necessary showing that there was a clear beneficial effect but a lot of the research is inconclusive, a lot of it is not clear, some people think does nothing. It is not clear that it would have made the difference between winning matches and not."
But whatever the outcome, Gabe Jaramillo has no doubts Maria Sharapova will be back.
"I really think that she is so competitive and she is so smart that for these 2 years, a year and a half, she is going to be working so hard to stay in shape, she is going to be playing because she wants to come back . She doesn't want to be leaving the game with this thing over her head. I bet she wants to to leave the game on a good note and she is going to try her best. If I had a bet, I would bet that she will come back because she does not want to give up."
And with the 29 year-old still one of the world's most marketable players, it's likely tennis authorities themselves will be happy to see her back.
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