China’s Peng Shuai reacts throughout her first spherical singles match in opposition to Japan’s Nao Hibino on the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 21, 2020. The girls’s skilled tennis tour will convey its occasions again to China later this yr, saying on April 13 the top of a boycott instituted in late 2021 over issues concerning the security of former participant Peng Shuai after she accused a high-ranking authorities official there of sexual assault.| Photo Credit: AP

The girls’s skilled tennis tour will convey its occasions again to China later this yr, saying on April 13 the top of a boycott instituted in late 2021 over issues concerning the security of former participant Peng Shuai after she accused a high-ranking government official there of sexual assault.

WTA Chairman and CEO Steve Simon mentioned in an interview with The Associated Press that whereas what he sought was by no means delivered — an opportunity for somebody from the tour to fulfill with Ms. Peng, together with a full and clear investigation into the Grand Slam doubles champion’s accusations — the choice was made, with enter from participant and event representatives, to return to the nation.

“The stance that we took at the time was appropriate. And we stand by that. But 16 months into this, we’re convinced that our requests will not be met. And to continue with the same strategy doesn’t make sense,” Mr. Simon mentioned from St. Petersburg, Florida, the place the WTA is predicated.

“So we needed to look at a different approach. With this, our members believe it’s time to resume the mission in China, where we believe we can continue to make a positive difference, as we have for the last 20 years, while at the same time making sure that Peng is not forgotten. By returning, hopefully more progress can be made.”

Although there have been no stories of Ms. Peng’s sightings in public since rigorously orchestrated appearances in the course of the Beijing Olympics in February 2022, Mr. Simon mentioned the WTA has “received assurances from people who are close to her, that we’ve been in contact with, that she is safe and living with her family in Beijing.”

He added that the tour has been assured by the Chinese Tennis Association, the game’s nationwide governing physique, that “there won’t be any issues with our athletes or our staff while they’re competing within the region.”

He known as the change in course “an organizational decision” and famous: “The great majority of the athletes were supportive and wanted to see a return ... and felt it was time to go back.”

The tour’s schedule in China needs to be revealed within the subsequent couple of weeks, Mr. Simon mentioned. It will start in September and embody the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen and different stops just like what was performed in 2019, earlier than the coronavirus pandemic led to a spherical of cancellations.

Ms. Peng, now 37, received doubles trophies at Wimbledon and the French Open and reached the No. 1 rating in doubles; in singles, she was a U.S. Open semifinalist and was ranked as excessive as No. 14. She dropped out of public view after saying in a social media submit in November 2021 that former vice premier Zhang Gaoli pressured her to have intercourse. The submit was rapidly taken down by Chinese authorities.

The following month, Mr. Simon — with the backing of the WTA Board of Directors, gamers, tournaments and sponsors — mentioned the tour would droop play in China. That was the strongest public stand in opposition to China by a sports activities physique and price the WTA thousands and thousands of {dollars} in income.

Ms. Peng later tried to recant, together with in a managed interview throughout final yr's Winter Games. After the Olympics, the worldwide consideration and outrage raised by her case — “ Where is Peng Shuai? ” was a preferred rallying cry, a T-shirt slogan seen at Grand Slam tournaments, a trending matter on social media — appears to have lessened.

The ATP males’s tennis tour and the International Tennis Federation, which oversees the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup together with lower-level tournaments for particular person gamers, not too long ago mentioned they might resume operations in China after staying away due to COVID-19.

Back when he first delivered the news about leaving China, Mr. Simon informed the AP: ”... the one factor that we are able to’t do is stroll away from this, as a result of if we’re strolling away from the important thing components — which is clearly not solely her well-being, however the investigation — then we’re telling the world that not addressing sexual assault with respect to the seriousness it requires is OK, as a result of it’s too tough. And it’s merely one thing that we are able to’t let occur.”

Asked whether or not April 13, (Thursday’s) transfer may very well be construed by some as backing down, Mr. Simon replied: “Well, everyone could have their very own opinions on that, for positive. I can perceive how somebody may have a look at it that manner, for positive. But we took a stand that nobody else has. And, I feel, from that, we did obtain some issues that we didn’t suppose we might get, as nicely," citing the assurances about Ms. Peng's security and that of WTA gamers and employees upon return to China.