I like you that much that i come here and i perform here. This week, you were honoured at the house of commons as well. You were given a Global Diversity award. What does that mean to you . What does a Global Citizen award mean to you . Its an honour. I dont know if i deserve it or not, but theyve given me that honour and i, you know, gladly accept it. I never thought that i would ever be in a position like this today. You know . I never thought that i deserved even my first big film. I dont know how long this is going to be there, but whenever it goes away, i hope it goes to somebody well deserving. With thousands expected to attend his concerts this weekend, it doesnt look like his fame is going away any time soon. Haroon rashid, bbc news. Some more news on the Police Investigation into the bombing in Parsons Green tube station yesterday. The commissioner Cressida Dick has been out meeting the public, with officers, to project the message that it is business as usual in london. She stressed after visiting the investigation last night and her operations from that she has seen first hand the complex, professionaljob being done. Officers have been called on to work extra shifts and she says she is hugely proud of their response. Know more about the investigation, she says it continues and updates will be provided when they are able. Now the weather prospects with chris. Weve got air Passenger Duty to contend with and ryanair cancelling many flights, tell us its a good weekend to stay at home instead the cool weekend to stay at home instead the cool, and subtle showery day, some places will get more than their fair share, c bridlington, shower clouds, moving in at the moment, across eastern counties those showers will be widespread in the afternoon, several across parts of east yorkshire, lincolnshire and norfolk as well. Another area seeing many showers is wales and South West England although these might send out for a time. Weve had some heavy showers injersey, jersey out for a time. Weve had some heavy showers in jersey, Jersey Airport picking upjust showers in jersey, Jersey Airport picking up just over an showers in jersey, Jersey Airport picking upjust over an inch of rain in the last two hours so its been quite torrential. Through the rest of the day and one is immune from showers, more general rain from northern ireland, late in the day sunshine moving into the north and east of scotland. Overnight tonight rainfora time east of scotland. Overnight tonight rain for a time in South West England and wales, otherwise the skies were clear and it will become dry and cold enough for frost in sheltered areas of scotland. Tomorrow slightly better, after a cold start, fewer showers, there should be more sunshine, so it will feel a little less chilly than today. That is the weather. Hello. This is bbc news. The headlines at 1. 3 pm. Police have arrested an 18 year old man in the port area of dover in connection with yesterdays bombing on the london underground. Detectives describe the arrest as significant. The uk Terror Threat remains at the highest level, meaning another attack could be imminent. One thousand armed police are patrolling nationwide. The foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has revived his pledge of billions of pounds in extra funding for the nhs, once britain leaves the eu. A day after north koreas latest launch of a ballistic missile, leader kim jong un says he wants to match the military might of the United States. Thats just about all from me, thank you for your company throughout the morning. At the top of the hour, the latest news. Now on bbc news, unstoppable sharapova. Presented by laura trevelyan. Welcome to new york for a bbc news special, i am welcome to new york for a bbc news special, iam laura welcome to new york for a bbc news special, i am laura trevelyan. Welcome to new york for a bbc news special, iam laura trevelyan. In 2016 one of the most famous names in tennis fell from grace after testing positive for a banned substance. Maria sharapova was eventually banned from tennis the 15 months after an appeal. Now sharapova has published a memoir, unstoppable my life so far. And she is back on the tennis circuit. The big question facing her, can she get rid of this cloud over her career, face down criticism from rivals and climb back to the top of the sport she learned asa to the top of the sport she learned as a young child in russia . Maria sharapova, what was it like playing here in new york at the us openjersey playing here in new york at the us open jersey few weeks ago, playing here in new york at the us openjersey few weeks ago, back in the limelight after your suspension . It was amazing. An incredible moment. It started when the draw came out and i found moment. It started when the draw came out and ifound out moment. It started when the draw came out and i found out i would place simona halep who was so close to the number one ranking before the tournament. I knew at what level she was competing so i immediately understood the type of level i had to produce against from the first round on and it really challenged me. Ifelt like it would be a prime time match, i had not played on arthur ashe for a few years because of the suspension and because of the suspension and because i was injured in previous yea rs. Because i was injured in previous years. For many years i had not competed there and i was looking forward to that moment, just getting to the venue from the practices, everything before, the anticipation of walking through the tunnel and onto of walking through the tunnel and o nto ce ntre of walking through the tunnel and onto centre court, and the match itself, it was an emotional night for me as well. An incredible match, you beat the number two seed camille had a wildcard into the tournament. And you said after you want, its prime time, baby what did it mean to be there and win with the roar of the crowd under the lights . to be there and win with the roar of the crowd under the lights . I had been training for some time and to walk onto a court like that with thousands of people, the electric crowd, the emotions, the noise, the feeling that i had walking into and was a feeling of warmth and welcome. It felt like thats a place i really must, place i belong, it has been my stage was a long and i havent felt bad experience is said to be in a grand slam after such a long period was very special. The fans welcomed you back with open arms, not all the players, Caroline Wozniacki said it was questionable to put you on one of the best courts for all the matches when she, the number five, was consigned to an outside court. What do you make of that reaction. Is one of those things i dont control the schedule and im not in the meeting is doing the schedule. I can only sit back and compete where im supposed to concede. Does it surprise you, that hostility or are you used to and from other players. If it was just based on facts i would be surprised but i think their comments are not based on facts. Especially after everything i went through and a couple of trials i went through and the decision, in terms of that it does not change the way i feel going on court. Ultimately i believe i have a choice and its a choice to me to compete and its a choice to me to compete and play and i made that decision and play and i made that decision andi and play and i made that decision and i wanted for myself because i love doing this. Everything else is behind me. Lets talk about the suspension, which you talk about a lot in your book. Why did you start taking meldonium which wasnt banned at the time. After my first grand slam at wimbledon i was not very healthy for a long time. I went to see a childrens doctor in russia that my father took me to. I was still a teenager. He ran some tests, he said still a teenager. He ran some tests, he said i had some abnormalities in my heart. That was one of the supplements he recommended i take. It was commonly used in russia. We received a certificate that it was com pletely received a certificate that it was completely illegal to take for many yea rs, completely illegal to take for many years, ultimately it became illegal for the first few weeks of last year. See you got this email in january 2016 before the australian open, you say in the book that this is an e mail from the International Tennis federation telling you meldonium is now banned but you did not click on all the attachments. Why not . They were buried and hidden. Those are not the types of attachments that any of the players open up if you really ask them. It wasnt noticeable at all. They didnt make an effort to show us that it was a commonly used supplement in eastern europe. It should have been flagged and it wasnt. You say in the book you were careless and you did not afford the e mail to other members of your team and must have opened it, that was a very costly moment of carelessness. Yes, thats why was a big mistake and thats why i felt needed to speak openly about it in my book. It is part of myjourney and my career. It was a significant part of it and wa nted it was a significant part of it and wanted to share the feelings i had, the ups and downs ive faced, the vulnerability that i had to face as well with it, i think it was important. How devastating was the moment when you are banned from the sport eventually for 15 months. Moment when you are banned from the sport eventually for 15 monthsm was. I think the uncertainty was the emotion i had trouble dealing with because there is some and certainty in my sport and my life in terms of scheduling and knowing what to play for, what to train for. So i missed that. I missed knowing what was ahead of me. I really didnt know. Doing that time i experienced different things, i got to be with my family, study a bit and do some internships but ultimately i missed what i did. I have a choice of not playing any more, ive achieved so many amazing things, i had the opportunity to say, it has been a great ride and this time to do other things but it never really crossed my mind. It felt good to know that i still wanted it. That there were no question marks about whether i wa nted question marks about whether i wanted to return or not. Back to the meldonium, it has been banned from your sport because it is now regarded as a performance enhancing drug because it increases heart rate which can increase endurance and stability. But he were not taking it for that reason. The problem i have with that is that there is no proof of that and no one can give you prove. Yet it was banned by the governing body of the sport. |j prove. Yet it was banned by the governing body of the sport. I think the biggest question was what is the band based on, because athletes were taking it because its performance enhancing, which theres no proof and they have not provided it so far. Andy murray, top player, says he finds it strange that there is a Prescription Drug used to heart conditions and so many athletes at the top of the sport would have that condition. It does look suspicious doesnt it. I dont think it is for them to have an opinion because they dont have the facts. Those are words that make headlines and they will be used as headlines but ultimately this is my career. I have faced it head on and admitted my mistake and i went about it and served my suspension and now im back. Did you ever feel you were singled out because you are russian although you have lived here all your life you have not taken american citizenship and the russians have become the poster children for doping in sport. Russians have become the poster children for doping in sportlj didnt feel that. Because i spend so much of my life in the United States and grew up training here. I never really felt, i was never much part of the federation, i was never backed by the Russian Federation from the edge of six and a half i arrived in miami with my father and i trained at academies in florida throughout my childhood. I never had that association and did not feel that association and did not feel that this was part of it. Do you feel tennis has a problem with drugs. I dont think it has a huge problem. Is the testing regimen vigorous enough . I dont know if im the right person. Have you been tested since he returned to the tour. Numerous times. Definitely. I dont know if i can be a good judge of what is enough and what isnt but i have certainly been tested many times this year and previous years, not more or less. Is a top player you must feel the pressure to always perform at the top level, to find every advantage. Does that pressure perhaps sometimes lead to misjudgements and wrongdoing . Not in your case necessarily but in the sport . Not necessarily. I dont think that can be used, my case, as an example of something that was com pletely an example of something that was completely legal for some many yea rs, completely legal for some many years, such a commonly used product in eastern europe. But do you think its important for tennis fans, we love to watch you and see top players, to feel trust that the players, to feel trust that the player that they are seeing is a real person and not some manufactured person who is taking performance enhancing drugs. Absolutely. I think thats where the person goes and watches you compete. To see the emotion and the physical aspect and to see an athlete going through the ups and downs of the match and the victories and the losses in the upsets and then the comebacks. That is part of an athletes journey. You say in the book your reputation took a beating when this happened. Do you feel you can recover. By doing what im doing and committing myself to the sport, training and working hard, by loving what i do, i give so much to the sport and i want to because i feel i have accomplished a lot. Have inspired many young girls and boys to play the sport, to be determined, be tough. I really felt that love from them. Even during this time away from the sport the amount of people in support of me was touching ona human people in support of me was touching on a human level. I still feel i have a lot in me from a professional point of view, and a competitive point of view, and a competitive point of view, and a competitive point of view. You certainly are a tough competitor as you should in the us open. Eugenie bouchard the canadian player said you were a cheat and you should not be allowed back into the sport because it sends the wrong message. Those comments are not based on fact so i dont ta ke are not based on fact so i dont take them into consideration. What is the fact, that you did not cheat . Exactly. Unwittingly you took a banned substance for a month in 2016 without knowing, does that make you a cheater. When you dont know that you are taking a banned substance that cant be taken into consideration. Lets talk to your path about your path to world number one on five separate occasions, you came here at six and a half, brought by father, speaking no english, turning up at a Tennis Academy in florida. What was not like. A crazy journey that i share with all the readers in the book. I think that is what inspired me to write this. As i was doing a lot of injuries throughout my career, journalists asked me about my experiences as an immigrant, training, going through an academy, trying to find ways to become champion, the tough parts of it, the roadblocks, how did i get through them. As i was talking about the story they wanted to know more and they did up for more questions. That is when realised that my story was interesting and inspiring. It could lead to inspiring other people. I definitely faced roadblocks from a young age. Not speaking english was stopped, what was it like when you turned up in florida and couldnt speak the language. Difficult. Much more difficult from my father but i was young and i took up the language fast and i was around kids that spoke english. Little children speak all the time and i learned from them. I never really went to school to study english. That was part of training, practising tennis was learning the language. And you learned from the tv. I did, i watched barney and all these little cartoons. Tell us about your dad, yuri, using Zurich Classic driven tennis parent like Andre Agassis father was the and made it up and he sounds like the classic driven tennis parent. As my father as an incredible example because the decisions he was able to make was a selfless. He did it because i was young enough to tell him, to say, i wa nt to young enough to tell him, to say, i want to be a wimbledon champion. He had that vision is but he realised i had that vision is but he realised i had the skill to become that and he did all he could to get me there. He knew he wasnt a coach. He didnt have the finances. So he took me to places that could help me, help bring me to the level i needed to get to. He convinced this academy to ta ke get to. He convinced this academy to take you and through your shirt on and they did. But all the other pa rents and they did. But all the other parents and little girls were jealous of you, you say in the book. What was that like. I always felt i was the youngest one because i was, when it was time to compete, i a lwa ys when it was time to compete, i always find myself the younger one competing against the older kids, or when i was boarding i was always younger by a few years. It was an isolated time in my life. Also you werent paying fees because of your time and you were taken on for free. That made everyone mean and jealous and envious of you. Junior tennis is and envious of you. Junior tennis is a cut throat world in florida. Exactly. When you are very young you dont know to what extent that goes, but when i had a coach call me up at 7pm, turned on the lights and had investors looking at my tennis game is sort of realise there is more to this than tennis, there is business surrounding it. The wheels are turning. And theres a lot of business in tennis and in other sports as well. It comes with the territory. When you were a kid in florida the williams sisters came to one of the academies leiua at and even then you had this huge competitive streak. Tell us about what you say in the book, about how you would not watch them like eve ryo ne you would not watch them like everyone else. I remember both venus and serena were coming to the Nick Bollettieri academy to practice. And all the kids were given a free afternoon to watch them practising. And my father told me, you have to watch them and study them, studied their game and their focus and determination.