After a 16-month boycott due to worries for the safety of Chinese star Peng Shuai, professional women’s tennis competitions will return to China in September, the WTA confirmed on Thursday.
The former world champion in doubles has not been seen outside of China since making and then retracting allegations of sexual assault against a senior official.
The WTA took a stand and halted its organization of tournaments in China in 2021 after Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai boldly came out out of concern for her safety as well as the safety of our players and staff, it stated.
Yet, the WTA, the organization in charge of overseeing women’s professional tennis, acknowledged that despite taking a “principled position” and sending “a strong statement to the world,” nothing had changed.
“The situation has showed no evidence of improving after 16 months of halted tennis competition in China and persistent attempts to meet our initial requirements,” the WTA said.
“We have come to the conclusion that we will never completely achieve those aims, and in the end, our players and tournaments will bear the incredible cost of their efforts.
For these reasons, the WTA is relaxing its ban on holding events in the PRC and will start holding tournaments there again in September.
The WTA said, “We have not been able to do all we set out to, but we have been in contact with Peng’s family and friends and are certain that she is residing in Beijing with them in safety.
“We have also been given guarantees that WTA athletes and employees working in China would be safe and well-protected while there. The WTA will keep all parties accountable because it takes this obligation seriously.
– ‘RESOLUTION REQUIRED’ –
The WTA said that it had requested “a formal inquiry into the claims by the proper authorities and a chance for the WTA to meet with Peng – confidentially – to address her position” in a statement released in January.
The statement at the time said, “Although we have always maintained we are confident we will be able to again conduct WTA tournaments in the area, we will not compromise our core ideals in order to do so.
Returning to the area will need finding a solution to the Peng Shuai case, in which Peng bravely came out to publicly accuse a top Chinese government official of sexual assault.
Former world no. 1 in doubles Peng claimed in a social media post that a former vice-premier from China had coerced her into having sex during a relationship that lasted for years, but she has now rejected these claims twice and blamed the incident on a “big misunderstanding.”
Although Chinese events were first postponed due to Covid-19 in 2020, China has contributed a significant portion of the WTA’s earnings during the previous ten years, and the organization has faced significant financial losses.
Due to the WTA’s decision to return, China will once again be the main focus of the women’s tennis season.
The 10-year agreement between the city of Shenzhen and the WTA Finals will be renewed.
The fifth-ranked player in the world, Caroline Garcia of France, said she appreciated the WTA’s “extremely essential” return to China.
She told the BBC that women’s tennis was now moving in the same direction as the ATP and the ITF (International Tennis Federation).
We’ve had some sizable tournaments there in the past, and I believe this is a pivotal event in our calendar. I’m looking forward to it.
The Covid epidemic has severely impacted sport in China.
Four men’s tournaments are slated to take place in China this year in Chengdu, Zhuhai, Beijing, and Shanghai from September to October. The ATP men’s tennis circuit had previously stopped its events there, but this has changed as the nation is now easing from severe anti-Covid restrictions.
The 2022 Winter Olympics were hosted in Beijing, but they were unusually “closed loop,” with participants, coaches, personnel, and media locked off from the Chinese populace.
Peng made a short appearance in those Olympics as a spectator.
