Tuesday 7 July 2015 16:59, UK
Wimbledon officials have played down the controversy surrounding Caroline Wozniacki’s criticism of the lack of women’s matches on the main show courts.
Former world No 1 Wozniacki, seeded fifth at this year’s Wimbledon, saw her fourth round defeat to Spain's Garbine Muguruza staged on Court Two on Monday.
In her post-match press conference, Wozniacki made no attempt to disguise her disappointment at not being giving the opportunity to play on either Centre Court or Court One.
During the first week at Wimbledon a total of 36 men’s matches were played on Centre Court and Courts One and Two, compared to 23 female matches.
Reporting from Wimbledon, Sky Sports News HQ reporter Dharmesh Sheth said: "Wimbledon officials have not directly responded to what Caroline Wozniacki complained about regarding scheduling but they did give me a 12 factor list of what they consider before deciding the order of play.
The top two factors are the ones that are important. They say the major marquee players will normally be scheduled on the stadium court with Centre Court and Court 1 seeing the leading names. That is expected by both the paying public and the TV audiences alike.
"And the second point is that players with a large fan following will usually by necessity be scheduled to play on courts offering the greatest security."
On Monday, Wozniacki said: "The women really haven't gotten the opportunity here to play on the big courts. You only get one woman's match on Court 1 and Centre Court. Most of last week it was only one woman's match on Court 2 as well.
"It's definitely different. That's all I can say. I think a lot of us women feel like we deserve to play on the big courts in front of a big crowd.
"I would love to play on a big court. I think that's what it's all about. You work hard and practice to play on the big courts."
But seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer dismissed any notion that the scheduling was unfair to the women.
"It is what it is. I'm sure if they're doing it, it's not because of bad intentions. It's just the scheduling and thinking that maybe those are the matches now they want to play on Centre, that's it," he said.
"Of course, they would try to be fair. I would be surprised if it would be otherwise."
