Maria Sharapova Jokes She's Skipping Coachella Because She's Got Her 'Day Job' Back - as Doping Ban Ends

Maria Sharapova is ready to get back on the court.

Ahead of her return to tennis next month following her doping ban, the 29-year-old athlete spoke at the ANA Inspiring Women Conference on Tuesday - and even cracked a few jokes about her troubles.

The Russian-born athlete said that she attended the Coachella Music and Arts Festival last April during her time off, and learned about many types of drugs.

“I was like, OK, so this is what this is about?’ There’s 120,000 people doing drugs that I’m not aware of? That took me completely out of my element,” Sharapova said per The Desert Sun, poking fun at her ban for testing positive for Meldonium, a drug that can help an athlete’s endurance and rehabilitation. (The drug became a banned substance in the tennis world in 2016, the same year her penalty was announced.)

But don’t expect the tennis star to make a repeat appearance at the California festival.

“I am skipping Coachella this year,” she said. “I got my day job back!”

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During a news conference in March 2016, Sharapova revealed she had taken the recently banned drug for the past decade.

“I did fail the test and I take full responsibility for it,” she said.

As a result, the Russian tennis star received a two-year ban for doping by the International Tennis Federation. The Court of Arbitration for Sport later reduced the penalty to 15 months.

Although Sharapova admits using the drug, she has said she did not realize it was banned, and on Tuesday said she was relieved to return to the sport she loves.

“To be in a moment where you feel or felt like you could have ended on someone else’s voice and someone else’s terms was very difficult to accept and that is why I fought so hard for the truth to be out,” she said. “You don’t realize how much you love something and how much something means to you until you lose it for some time.”

Sharapova’s ban will end two days after the Stuttgart Grand Prix kicks off on April 24, but organizers have scheduled her first match for April 26 to allow her to be compete.

Besides attending Coachella during her time off, Sharapova also participated in a two-week program at Harvard Business School and focused on staying in top shape.

“Our bodies get used to something when we do it consistently, so I think the biggest gift that I can give to my body is always making it guess,” Sharapova told PEOPLE earlier this year at an exclusive workout and wellness event with Supergoop! - which she co-owns - in Los Angeles to promote the Barre to Bar Beauty set.

“It’s really about mixing it up and doing different things,” she continues. “As much as I play tennis, I want to do workouts that are different.”

This article was originally published on PEOPLE.com