According to Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria, concerns about Peng Shuai should remain in focus despite the return of the WTA tour to China.
“In any case, I think it’s important that we talk about Peng Shuai and that everyone takes care that she’s fine,” said the Swabian tennis player (35) on the sidelines of the clay court tournament in Stuttgart.
In November 2021, Peng Shuai accused a high-ranking Chinese politician of sexual abuse on the social network Weibo. The post was deleted soon after. Peng later denied making the allegations. State censorship had blocked any debate about it on the Chinese internet.
The WTA had canceled all tournaments in China because of the fall, and there had been no tournaments in China since November 2021. The tour will now return to China in the fall.
“The option with China is good for us players because we have more tournaments and options again. There haven’t been many tournaments in the last few years,” said Maria.