WTA returns to China

The Women’s Tennis Association announced that it will once again hold tournaments in China. This ends a boycott that began in late 2021 when local tennis player Peng Shuai disappeared from public view, coinciding with her critical social media post against a high-ranking government official.

A few weeks later, Peng Shuai appeared in public, but concerns about her welfare remained, prompting WTA chief Steve Simon to say the tennis tour would not return to China until an independent investigation was carried out.

Steve Simon admitted that none of WTA’s conditions had been met, but the financial losses for the organization were too serious and from autumn the tournaments in China are back on the calendar.

“I hope that with our return to China, we will be able to make more progress. We have not forgotten about Peng Shuai”, he said. He added that most of the female tennis players supported the idea of the tournaments in China being included in the calendar again.