Respect Equality

Head of women’s tennis is fighting China for missing tennis star

Story at a glance

  • WTA Chairman and CEO Steve Simon told Time this week that he has not seen or heard from the Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai since she accused one of China’s former senior political leaders of sexual assault.
  • Simon has threatened to pull all WTA tournaments out of China if the country’s government doesn’t comply with an investigation into her whereabouts and her accusations.
  • Tennis stars like Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic have said they are shocked by Peng’s disappearance.

Women’s Tennis Association Chairman and CEO Steve Simon hasn’t been able to contact Peng Shuai, the two-time Grand Slam champion from China, since Nov. 2 when she came forward with allegations that former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli had sexually assaulted her.

“We have worked every method available to us,” Simon told Time Magazine on Wednesday. “Voice, digital, tweeting. WeChat. WhatsApp. Text. There are plenty of different messaging things we all use and are all able to communicate with. And none of those have produced a result as of this point.”

The Chinese Tennis Association has assured Simon that Peng is in Beijing and is safe and not under any physical threat, he said, but he would still like to hear that from the missing tennis player herself.

“I will remain worried until I am able to speak with her, or she speaks with somebody in our organization, whomever she’s comfortable with,” he said.


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Simon has threatened to move all WTA tournaments out of China if the country’s government fails to comply with an investigation into Peng’s disappearance and accusations, meaning China could lose out on billions of dollars.

Peng went public with her allegation early this month on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Her post disappeared within minutes.

In her post, Peng, 35, said that Zhang, 75, “forced” her to engage in sex acts with him. It’s the first time such an allegation has been brought against one of China’s senior political leaders.

“I know that someone of your eminence, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, you’ll say that you’re not afraid,” Peng wrote in her now-deleted post, according to BBC, “but even if it’s just striking a stone with a pebble, or a moth attacking a flame and courting self destruction, I will tell the truth about you.”

She said Zhang had first pressured her to have sex when she visited his home to play tennis. 

“That afternoon I didn’t give my consent and couldn’t stop crying,” she wrote. “You brought me to your house and forced me and you to have relations.”

Simon told Time this week that he believes Peng is telling the truth.

“It’s pretty hard for me to believe that an individual who has experienced that and comes from a country and an environment in which she does is going to come forth with those allegations, and them not be true,” he said.

Peng’s disappearance has rocked the greater tennis community, with stars like Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic voicing their concerns over her unknown whereabouts.

“Censorship is never OK at any cost, I hope Peng Shuai and her family are safe and OK,” Osaka wrote Tuesday on Twitter, including the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai. “I’m in shock of the current situation and I’m sending love and light her way.”


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