Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki delivered a stinging rebuke to US Open schedulers over the preferential treatment she sees is being given to Maria Sharapova.

The Danish player was angered at being originally placed on humble Court number five, while someone given a wildcard and coming back from a drugs ban played their second straight match on the prestigious Arthur Ashe Stadium.

After losing to Ekaterina Makarova (the match was eventually switched to number seventeen), Wozniacki let her feelings be known.

‘A schedule to have the number five in the world playing on court five fifth match on is unacceptable,’ she said.

‘When you look on centre court – I understand completely the business side of things but someone who comes back from a drug sentence and performance enhancing drugs and then all of a sudden gets to play every single match on centre court, that’s a questionable thing to do.

Related News

‘It doesn’t set a good example.’

Sharapova was last night waiting to see where her third round match against American wildcard Sofia Kenin would be placed.

Wednesday’s scheduling was also strange in putting out-of-form world number 76 Eugenie Bouchard as the opening match on Arthur Ashe against equally modest opposition.

Sharapova played two matches later in the same place when she beat world number 59 Timea Babos of Hungary in three sets.

Afterwards she repeatedly declined to give answers to questions about how many doping tests she has undergone since her comeback in April, saying that the figure will be published by the International Tennis Federation at the end of the year.