The WTA will once again play tournaments in China16 months later, despite the fact that acknowledged that the situation with the tennis player Shuai Peng has not been resolved, who disappeared after denouncing sexual abuse by a Chinese leader. However, the tennis association confirmed that he will end his boycott of the Asian country and that he will return to play in this territory from September, since He assured that he was able to confirm with Peng’s environment that he is fine.
Through a statement, the WTA admitted that after “countless efforts” to achieve their initial requests, such as confirm that Peng is completely free, the situation “has not changed” and the organization understands “that it will never fully achieve those objectives”. “It will be our players and the tournaments that will end up paying the price,” said the WTA, which stated that by Suspending tournaments in this region “deprived many tennis players of opportunities.”
“We were not able to achieve everything we set out to do, but we have been in contact with people close to Peng and have made sure that he lives safely with his family in Beijing. We also make sure that players and workers operating in China will be safe and secure. We don’t regret our decision to stop playing in China, but it’s time to come back.” added the organization.
The WTA will announce the calendar for the second part of the year in the coming weeks and it will be known exactly which tournaments return to the schedule. The most important events that were held in Chinese territory before the boycott were the tournaments in Beijing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and the WTA Elite Trophy, which brought together the best players who did not go to year-end Masters, located between ninth and twentieth place in the ranking.
