Monte Carlo ¨C Boris Becker believes Maria Sharapova has paid her dues and deserves a second chance when she returns to tennis in April at the end of her 15-month doping ban.

Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, failed a dope test for the drug meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open and was suspended for two years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The Russian¡¯s ban was then cut by nine months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last October, meaning she is free to return from April 26.

Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion, said it was right that Sharapova was allowed to return to the sport and hopes her comeback will not cause problems in the locker room.

¡°In principal I am all for a second chance,¡± Becker said at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Monaco.

¡°She (Sharapova) paid her dues, she was suspended for quite a long time. I don¡¯t know about the reaction of the other players, it¡¯s up to them. Everyone has their own choice. Hopefully the atmosphere (inside the locker room) will be good. We can move on and have good women¡¯s champions.¡±

Sharapova, 29, had called the ITF¡¯s original ruling ¡°unfairly harsh¡± because she had not intentionally violated anti-doping rules.

Meldonium was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency list of banned substances only at the start of 2016 after mounting evidence it boosted blood flow and enhanced performance.

CAS cut Sharapova¡¯s suspension but said she ¡°bore some degree of fault¡± by relying on agent Max Eisenbud to check the banned list for changes and failing to ensure he had done so.

Despite Sharapova¡¯s suspension, Becker feels tennis is a clean sport and that the testing system works.

¡°I think most tennis players are responsible. If you see in the men¡¯s side there is no one inside the top 100 (that isn¡¯t clean) and in the women¡¯s side ¡ª I think Maria is the exception ¡ª all of the other tennis players are clean,¡± he said.

¡°Tennis is an Olympic sport so the tests are very severe and strong and the penalties are strong. I think the system works. Maybe it speaks volumes of the system because a high-profile player like Sharapova was caught.¡±

German Becker coached current world No. 2 Novak Djokovic for three years until the pair split in December.