The tennis world was shocked to its core when the news of Peng Shuai broke. It has been close to two years since the player all but disappeared. Not much is known about her whereabouts and the WTA has not been able to get in touch with her either. Despite suspending all tournaments in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak and Peng’s disappearance, tennis has resumed in China.
Peng was a very prominent Chinese player on the tour. In 2021, the player accused a high-ranking official of the Communist Party of China of sexual assault. The repercussions of Shuai’s allegations were immediate.
The WTA suspended all tournaments held in China indefinitely. However, the consequences for Shuai were far more dire than anyone could have anticipated. The question remains- Where is Peng Shuai? More than a hashtag, it is a troubling question.
Nearly 2 years since Peng Shuai 🇨🇳 was silenced and ‘disappeared’
Tennis has resumed for both ATP and WTA tours.
Where is the Chinese tennis player? pic.twitter.com/ifiH68T6QH
— TheTennisTalker (@TheTennisTalker) September 27, 2023
Shuai has been seen only a handful of times since her allegations went viral. Each time, she was accompanied by CCP officials. Things took a very drastic turn, as Shuai later retracted her statements and accused Western media of misconstruing her post.
Peng has disappeared from social media and nobody has heard from her family either. The WTA had requested the Chinese government for transparency but their words fell on deaf ears. Even Serena Williams had demanded an investigation. She was briefly seen at the Beijing Winter Olympics last year, but her appearance was clearly staged.
Peng Shuai’s pics at the Beijing 2022 big air freeski https://t.co/ygG3yrBPbT pic.twitter.com/lblRx0bDmX
— Tennis World USA (@TennisWorlden) February 10, 2022
Sophie Richardson, a prominent Human Rights activist, spoke of the Chinese government’s history of disappearing people. She added that the government can very easily deprive people of their rights.
The WTA tried their best to stick to their stance, but they were losing out on revenue. Steve Simon, the CEO of the association had to make a rather difficult choice.
The WTA returns to China despite Peng Shuai still missing
Simon opened up about tennis returning to China after almost two years. He spoke at length about Peng Shuai’s situation and reassured of her safety. Since their current approach was not working, Simon made the choice to change tactics and resume tours in the country.
“Almost two years later, the progress we wanted to see in China has not led to a solution. So it was time to change our approach. We were reassured by the fact that Peng Shuai is safe and we know where she is,” said Simon (via TennisUpToDate).
BREAKING: WTA announces decision to suspend its tournaments in China due to the ongoing Peng Shuai situation.
From Steve Simon: pic.twitter.com/dKpGZYPbzh
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) December 1, 2021
Since Shuai went off-grid two years ago, Chinese players have made great strides in tennis. And now, tennis extravaganza is set to return to the country.