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WTA will return to China after ending boycott over Peng Shuai concerns
The WTA is to host tournaments in China once more after ending its boycott over concerns about the safety of the Chinese player Peng Shuai.
In December 2021 the Women’s Tennis Association announced the suspension of all tournaments in China, following a high-profile row with Beijing over the player’s wellbeing.
Peng had accused Zhang Gaoli, the former Chinese vice-premier, of sexual assault in a post on social media that was soon removed from the country’s internet. Peng disappeared from public life for three weeks after the Weibo post, prompting international concern over her wellbeing. She later said the post was “an enormous misunderstanding” and that she was retiring from tennis.
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Concerns have remained over her ability to speak freely and in January this year the WTA, which had called for an investigation into the events surrounding Peng, said it had received confirmation Peng was safe and comfortable but was yet to meet with her.
Peng Shuai is a former No 1 doubles player and is one of the reasons for the growing popularity of women’s tennis in China. The 20-year-old Chinese player Zheng Qinwen, ranked No 25 in the world, is one of the rising stars of the women’s international game.
On Thursday the WTA chief executive, Steve Simon, announced the Tour would be returning to the country. “We’ve been in this for 16 months and we are convinced that at this point our requests will not be met,” he told BBC Sport.
“To continue with the same strategy doesn’t make sense and a different approach is needed. Hopefully, by returning more progress can be made.”
The WTA had been praised for being the only international sports organisation to take a stand on human rights issues in China. The International Olympics Committee, the NBA and Fifa have all been criticised for failing to speak out on the country’s human rights record. In 2019 the NBA appeared to apologise to the Chinese government after the then general manager of the Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey, tweeted in support of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
Some observers have noted that the WTA’s boycott of China also coincided with the country’s strict zero-Covid policy, which made sports tournaments unviable anyway.
The ATP men’s tennis tour also recently said that it would soon return to China. However unlike the WTA, the ATP did not suspend any of its Chinese events.
The WTA’s China swing will resume in September with tournaments planned in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and other cities.
In a statement the WTA said: “Peng cannot be forgotten through this process … The WTA will continue to advocate for Peng and the advancement of women around the world.”
