WTA Tour set to return to China in 2023 following suspension over Peng Shuai situation
2019 Asian swing begins with the WTA Tour scheduled to return to China in 2023 following a two-year suspension for Peng Shuai in a corruption scandal, Beijing police have announced.
The International Tennis Council (ITC), which represents the sport’s professional tennis participants, announced on Wednesday that the WTA Tour will return in 2023 following a two-year suspension issued on July 26, 2018 over allegations of bribery in connection with an investigation into the promotion of tennis players.
The ITC confirmed via a statement that the suspension was in effect from March 28, 2019, and that the WTA Tour was to resume on May 15, 2020. It went on to confirm that the suspension was also to apply to the Asian and Chinese circuit tournaments that took place during the suspension.
The WTA Tour was suspended in February 2019 after a news report revealed that Peng faced a potential six-month ban at the end of 2017. The news report also said she had been stripped of four of her titles due to her involvement in the scandal.
Peng, who holds seven WTA Tour Tour earnings, is believed to have been investigated for her alleged role in the promotion for female athletes. Her seven-year ban, which is to run concurrently with her six-month probation period in a Chinese court for the allegations, is to be completed in 2023.
The WTA Tour will begin to resume with competitions on May 9, 2020, in Changsha and Beijing, with the final tournament in Nanjing. It will then begin to take place in Shanghai in the fall, after the 2018 Asian swing.
The ITC further announced that both the Chinese and Chinese circuit tournaments will be exempt from the ban as of May 9, 2020, after they have completed their competitions and are no longer under investigation.
The WTA Tour and the ITC announced their intention to resume the tour in May 2020 after the postponement of the 2020 Australian Open. At the
