The WTA, the governing body for women’s tennis, is set to announce a return to China, ending its 16-month suspension following the sexual assault allegations made by one of its players against a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party member, according to a WTA statement provided to Sports Illustrated. That player, Peng Shuai, disappeared for two and a half weeks after posting her claims, and though the one-time Chinese standout has made a handful of highly curated public appearances since, her current level of freedom remains in doubt.
A full slate of tournaments will resume this fall, including the tour’s crown jewel, the WTA Finals, held in Shenzhen. The tour has struggled financially since leaving China; the season-ending Shenzhen event previously accounted for the greatest source of the WTA’s overall annual revenue, more than $20 million in various fees. WTA chairman and CEO Steve Simon tells SI, “This is obviously a change in direction from us. But continuing and continuing with the same strategy also doesn’t make sense, and a different approach is needed.”
In November 2021, Peng, then an active WTA player, posted on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, a detailed account of being sexually assaulted at the hands of Zhang Gaoli, a former vice premier of China and a high-ranking member of the CCP. Within half an hour, her post was scrubbed, and Chinese censors blocked users from searching Peng by name—and eventually even the term “tennis.”
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When her whereabouts and safety went unconfirmed, the WTA responded with concern. When Chinese officials denied her claims and refused any investigation, the WTA responded with force. Though China hosted more events on the women’s circuit than any other country, the WTA suspended operations there. As Simon put it at the time:
The WTA has been clear on what is needed here, and we repeat our call for a full and transparent investigation—without censorship—into Peng Shuai’s sexual assault accusations. None of this is acceptable nor can it become acceptable. If powerful people can suppress the voices of women and sweep allegations of sexual assault under the rug, then the basis on which the WTA was founded—equality for women—would suffer an immense setback. I will not and cannot let that happen to the WTA and its players.
In doing what so many other global businesses—from the NBA to Apple— did not, and confronting China’s authoritarianism, the WTA received plaudits and awards and gushing media coverage. But the WTA did not receive the backing of other sports leagues, including, critically, the ATP, the men’s tennis tour—which expanded its footprint in China. It did not receive the sponsorship and media dollars needed to offset the shortfall of China revenue. It also did not receive a response from China, which, predictably, ignored requests for a full and transparent investigation.
“After 16 months of suspended tennis competition in China and sustained efforts at achieving our original requests, the situation has shown no sign of changing,” the new WTA statement, obtained by SI, reads. “We have concluded we will never fully secure those goals and it will be our players and tournaments who ultimately will be paying an extraordinary price for their sacrifices.”
Without the revenue from China, the WTA has struggled financially. Last month, it announced it had completed a deal that essentially sold off 20% of its equity to an investor for $150 million. Sources tell SI that Simon had hoped to “stick to his guns” but relented in the face of board and financial pressure. “This was an organizational decision,” he says. “It came from discussions and feedback with the members, which are both tournaments and players.”
That money talks is no news flash. Neither is the reality that confronting China is an act undertaken at one’s own peril. Simon and the WTA took their stance, and pledged principles over profit, but the bill has clearly become due. As the statement obtained by SI puts it: “We received much praise for our principled stand and believe we sent a powerful message to the world. But praise alone is insufficient to bring about change.”
There are still intriguing plotlines to play out here. The WTA might resume staging events in China, but will players be willing to compete there? How will women’s tennis be greeted upon its return, after having taken a stance—short-lived as it was—that humiliated the host country? And, of course, where is Peng Shuai, who no longer competes and has made no independent appearances since her initial accusation.
The WTA believes Peng is currently safe, though its statement did not comment on her level of freedom. “We have been in touch with people close to Peng and are assured she is living safely with her family in Beijing,” the statement says. In Simon’s December 2021 statement announcing the WTA’s suspension from China, he had decried the failure of Chinese officials to “verifiably prove that Peng is free and able to speak without interference or intimidation.”
Athletes are often adept at spinning positive takeaways out of defeat. Now it’s the WTA’s turn to try to message this as something other than a capitulation.
Says Simon: “While we do not regret our decision on the suspension, our members feel that now is the time to return to our mission in China. We are hopeful that by returning more progress can be made. … It is important that our renewed engagement in China provides continued safety for Peng and all the women athletes who will benefit from our return to competition and the opportunities tennis provides. It is essential that women’s voices must be heard when speaking out.”
