WTA CEO Steve Simon confirmed the tournaments scheduled to take place in China this year remain suspended as the WTA is still concerned about the safety and well-being of Peng Shuai.Â
Peng hasn’t been seen in public since the Beijing Winter Olympics. Â
“We remain dedicated to finding a resolution to this, we want to find a resolution that Peng can be comfortable with, the Chinese government can be comfortable with and we can be comfortable with,” Simon explained on The Tennis Podcast.
“We are not about walking away from China, we have suspended our operations there night now, we will continue to do that until we get to a resolution.
“We have not had any recent communication with Peng and the world has not seen Peng since the Olympics either – I don’t think you will make change in this world by walking away from issues, you have to create change.
“We will stay resolute, we do hope to be back there in 2023 with the resolution that shows progress was made in the space, that’s a victory for the world if we can accomplish that.”
Peng insisted she was fine and wellÂ
In an interview with L’Equipe that took place during the Beijing Olympics, Peng said she was never sexually assaulted, her social media post was misinterpreted, she never disappeared but rather wanted some alone time.Â
“First of all, I would like to thank all the ATP and WTA players, all the athletes and all the personalities in large numbers who cared about me,” Peng told L’Equipe. “But I didn’t think there would be such concern and I would like to know: why such concern? I never disappeared, everyone could see me.
“[My post on Weibo] has given rise to a huge misunderstanding from the outside world. I hope that we no longer distort the meaning of this post. I never said anyone sexually assaulted me.”
Also, Peng announced her retirement from professional tennis during an interview with L’Equipe.Â
The WTA was happy to see Peng alive but they also feared Peng’s interviews were influenced and she was forced to make forced confessions.Â