Surrender? Compromise ? Realism? Everyone will have their own opinion on the change in attitude of the WTA, the professional women’s tennis circuit, in the Peng Shuai affair. Remember that it is about this player who has completely disappeared from the circuit and of whom we have not heard from after she accused a senior Chinese leader in 2021 of “forced” sexual intercourse during a relationship that has lasted several years.
Absent from China since the beginning of this story, women’s tennis will return to this country in September, the organization announced in a press release on Thursday. “The WTA is lifting the suspension of the organization of tournaments in China and tournaments will resume in China this September,” said the WTA, while acknowledging that “the situation” had “shown no signs of changing” at the time. regard to the Peng Shuai case.
In January, the WTA had asked, without obtaining satisfaction, to be able to speak “in private” with the player. The WTA had decided in 2021 to no longer organize tournaments in China in response to the disappearance for several weeks of this Chinese player, winner of Wimbledon and Roland-Garros in doubles.
“When, in 2021, Peng Shuai showed courage with his testimony, the WTA took a stand by suspending its tournaments in China due to its concern for his safety and for the safety of its players and staff,” said reminded the WTA in its press release.
After sixteen months, “we have concluded that we will not fully achieve our objectives and that it will be our players and our tournaments who will pay the price”, continues the text.
Until 2019, the WTA circuit stopped in several Chinese cities from September, with no less than six tournaments in the country that year, in addition to the end-of-year Masters organized in Shenzhen. It remains to be seen whether this change of posture will encourage the Chinese authorities to give news of Peng Shuai…