“This is a very important moment for the WTA’s business and history.” “(WTA Chairman and CEO) Steve Simon’s statement made it clear that they need to fully support Peng Shuai. “How this all that unfolds it is very difficult to say at this point but decisions will have to be made,” Allaster said. The Finals were cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and moved this year to Guadalajara, Mexico but the WTA has said it will return to Shenzhen from 2022 until 2030. Then Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli pictured in 2016. The season-ending WTA Finals had a prize purse of $US14 million ($A19m) in 2019 when it was played in Shenzhen for the first time. “This is not a diplomatic question,” he added.Īllaster would know better than most about the challenges of engaging with Chinese officials having served as the WTA’s chairman and CEO from 2009-15, a period that saw women’s tennis make a massive push into the China market.Ĭhina has been the focus of the WTA’s expansion over the last decade and hosted nine tournaments in 2019 with a total of $US30.4 million ($A41.3m) prize money on offer.
Credit: GettyĪsked about Peng Shuai, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said: “I have not heard of the issue you raised.” “It is tough and it also is tough for this very courageous young woman that has broken her silence and come forward with these allegations.” Peng Shuai has not been seen since she made the accusations two weeks ago.
Tennis world tour finals draw professional#
“Our sport is focusing on the health and safety of Peng Shuai, business is secondary,” Stacey Allaster, now chief executive, professional tennis for the USTA, told Reuters on Monday. The 35-year-old said in the post, which was deleted about half an hour after it was published on November 2, that she could provide no evidence to back her allegations.Ĭoncerns among the global tennis community have grown as Peng, the first Chinese player to top the world rankings when she was doubles No.1 in 2014, has not been seen since the post. Peng, a former top-ranked doubles player and one of China’s biggest sporting stars, alleged on her Weibo account that Zhang Gaoli, who was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee coerced her into sex and they later had an on-off consensual relationship. The OOP for the first two days of competition (all times GMT.As the WTA and ATP Tour seasons draw to a close this week with finals in Mexico and Italy, the tennis spotlight has focused on China with the WTA calling on the Chinese government to investigate allegations of sexual assault made by Peng against a former vice premier. In their careers, Murray holds an 8-5 overall lead.Įach player in the group will play one another, with the top two players in each advancing to the semifinals. Federer defeated the Brit in the finals of the Australian Open in February, but lost his next two matches to Murray. In Group B, Roger Federer will continue his rivalry with hometown favorite Andy Murray.
Rafa will also see Tomas Berdych, the man he defeated to win Wimbledon, during the round robin. In Group A, Rafael Nadal will face Novak Djokovic in a replay of September's U.S. By virtue of the draw, fans will be treated to three Grand Slam final rematches in the opening days of the tournament. The draw for next week's ATP World Tour Finals was announced on Tuesday morning, with the eight qualifying players getting divided into two round-robin groups.
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