Maria Sharapova is set to make her first appearance at a grand slam event since completing a 15-month suspension for taking the banned drug meldonium after US Open organisers confirmed that the 2006 champion will be handed a wildcard into the main draw.

Sharapova, who pulled out of this week’s Cincinnati Open due to an injury to the left forearm suffered during her first-round win over Jennifer Brady in the Stanford Classic this month, returned from her ban in April but missed another two months of the season – including Wimbledon – with a leg injury sustained at the Italian Open in Rome.

The Russian had been denied a wildcard for the French Open hours earlier, when tournament officials opted against her inclusion in the Roland Garros draw, but a spokesman for the United States Tennis Association (USTA), which oversees the US Open, said that its decision to include the former champion was consistent with its policy of awarding entry to past winners.

“Her suspension under the terms of the tennis anti-doping programme was completed and therefore was not one of the factors weighed in our wildcard selection process,” he said. “Consistent with past practice, a wildcard was provided to a past US champion who needed the wildcard for entry into the main draw. Previous US Open champions who have received US Open main draw wildcards include Martina Hingis, Lleyton Hewitt, Kim Cljisters and Juan Martín del Potro.

“Additionally Sharapova has volunteered to speak to young tennis players at the USTA national campus about the importance of the tennis anti-doping programme and the personal responsibility each player has to comply with the programme’s requirements.”

Sharapova has not entered a major tournament since the Australian Open in January 2016, when she tested positive for the drug. The 30-year-old is currently ranked No148 in the world and her inclusion was welcomed by the four-time US Open singles winner Billie Jean King. “Glad to see USTA give Maria Sharapova a wildcard, suspension over, great for the sport to have her back,” she wrote on Twitter.

Serena Williams, meanwhile, has admitted she is targeting a return to tennis at the Australian Open in January as she prepares to give birth to her first child. The 23-times grand slam winner is expected to be a mother in a matter of weeks and is hoping to be back on court soon after.