Tennis tournaments in China will resume from this season in the women’s circuit, and the president of the WTA assures that things are going in a good direction. Steve Simon also addressed the controversial subject of Peng Shuai, with the official saying he knows where the former world doubles leader is and that she is safe.

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In November 2021, Peng accused former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault in a social media post that was quickly removed from the Internet. She later denied the allegations.

There were whole campaigns (many WTA players joined them) demanding justice and truth from the Chinese in the Shuai Peng case, but little by little the voices died down.

Steve Simon, president of the WTA, says he knows where Peng Shuai is and that she is safe

While attending the WTA tournament in Strasbourg (category WTA 250), Simon spoke to the press and assured that the decision to return to tournaments in China was an inspired choice.

In addition, the head of the WTA provides interesting information regarding Peng Shuai: Simon again expresses his support for the former WTA doubles leader, and also clarifies that “he knows where she is and that the athlete is safe.”

Turning to the topic of the return of Chinese tournaments to the WTA season, Simon says that this is the right decision.

“We have taken a strong position on China that very few companies or industries have done. We do not question this decision in any way. It was the right thing to do and I would do it again if I had to.

After two years, the progress we wanted had not been made, so it was time to change the approach. We have been assured again that Peng Shuai is safe and we know where he is by the way. That was the first thing to do (not to learn something new about Shuai).

We need to clearly discuss and find solutions together. I hope that with the return of Chinese tournaments to the WTA, this will happen.

We never said we would never go back to China. The main goal is to be able to defend the interests of Peng Shuai” – Steve Simonthe president of the WTA, L’Equipe quotes.

It should be remembered that the financial power of the WTA in recent years was closely related to the huge sums pumped out of the Asian state.

China, money factory for WTA

China has become an important partner of the WTA since the 2015 season. In addition to the many tournaments held in this country, it should also be noted that in 2018 the WTA signed an important ten-year contract to host the Tournament of Champions in Shenzhen.

In 2019, Ashley Barty, who has now retired from the sport, earned $4.4 million for winning the Tournament of Champions in Shenzhen.

It remains the largest check ever received in the history of tennis (both women’s and men’s) for a tournament win. Even the big tournaments (Grand Slam) cannot (now) offer such a financial recipe.

According to the International Tennis Federation, in 2021 China will boast at least 50,000 tennis courts and about 20 million registered players nationwide (second only to the US).

China currently has five players in the WTA TOP 100: Qinwen Zheng (19th), Shuai Zhang (30th), Lin Zhu (40th), Xiyu Wang (62nd) and Xinyu Wang (78 -is).