WTA Tour set to return to China in 2023 following suspension over Peng Shuai situation
Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai is to return to her country for the WTA Tour season after the Chinese Tennis Association decided to suspend the 27-year-old indefinitely over a reported conflict with her husband.
The Chinese Tennis Association and the WTA announced on Wednesday that Peng could not return to the tour, citing her actions that involved “physical contact with her husband and his team, a lack of communication between her team and coaching staff, and some incidents related to her marriage. The WTA Tour will not recommend Peng to compete in the season.”
“She is a talented player and she is able to play at a high ATP point level,” WTA Tour Commissioner, Henri Delorme, said. “But we have decided to cancel the rest of her events in the first week of the season.”
Peng’s suspension comes after the Chinese Tennis Association decided to suspend her indefinitely following a dispute with her husband, who she had a three-year on-court relationship with while playing for the Italian tennis team.
Reports emerged in September that Peng and her husband had divorced.
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Chinese Tennis Association chairman, Zhao Xiaohao, said at the time: “She has chosen not to attend the WTA Tour in Beijing [China] as she chooses to have a family.”
Zhao said in a statement to state media that she “hopes the WTA Tour will resume the competition in her own country after she has gotten married”.
WTA Tour has had a problem with other players refusing to play the event
The WTA Tour has had a problem with other players refusing to play the event, notably Jelena Ostapenko, Serena Williams and Martina Hingis.