Andy Murray condemns conduct of Maria Sharapova for failing drug test

Andy Murray has condemned the conduct of Maria Sharapova and said that the Russian tennis star deserves a ban for failing a drug test at the Australian Open earlier this year.

Sharapova, the world's highest-earning female athlete, revealed earlier this week that she had tested positive for meldonium, a drug which she had been taking for health reasons 10 years but one that was added to the banned list of substances in 2016.

"It's not up to me to decide the punishment, but if you're taking performance-enhancing drugs and you fail a drugs test, you have to get suspended," Murray told reporters at a press conference in Indian Wells, where he is playing in the BNP Paribas Masters.

Murray said that it was "clearly wrong" Sharapova was taking a prescription drug to help blood flow that she did not "necessarily need".

He added: "If you're taking a prescription drug and you're not using it for what that drug was meant for, then you don't need it, so you're just using it for the performance-enhancing benefits that drug is giving you. And I don't think that that's right."

The Scot also told BBC Radio 5 live: "I find it strange that there's a prescription drug used for heart conditions and so many athletes competing at the top level of their sport would have that condition. That sounds a bit off to me."

Sharapova, 28, will be provisionally suspended from March 12.