Published on 12:00 AM, May 10, 2017

'Players scared to criticise Sharapova'

Russia's tennis player Maria Sharapova attends a training session during the Stuttgart tennis Grand Prix, Germany April 26, 2017. Photo: Reuters

Eugenie Bouchard claimed plenty of other players on the WTA Tour share her outspoken views on Maria Sharapova's return from an 15-month doping ban, but are too "scared" to speak out.

Bouchard beat Sharapova for the first time in five meetings in the second round of the Madrid Open on Monday 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 a week after labelling the Russian "a cheater".

The Canadian also claimed Sharapova should have been banned for life after testing positive for Meldonium at the 2015 Australian Open rather than welcomed back with a series of wildcards for big events.

"I definitely had some extra motivation going into today," said Bouchard.

"I was actually quite inspired before the match because I had a lot of players coming up to me privately wishing me good luck.

“Players I don't normally speak to, getting a lot of texts from people in the tennis world that were just rooting for me."