By Shrivathsa Sridhar
PARIS (Reuters) – The governing body of women’s tennis released its calendar for the latter part of 2023 on Friday following a decision in April to resume operations in China, with the Asian nation hosting a WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing in September.
China will also host a WTA 500 tournament in Zhengzhou, apart from 250 events in Guangzhou, Ningbo and Nanchang, the Florida-based organisation, which had released a partial calendar late last year, said in a statement.
However, there was no announcement on the venue for the season-ending WTA Finals, although reports earlier this year said Shenzhen would resume hosting duties for the first time since 2019 as part of its 10-year deal.
The last two editions were held in Guadalajara and Fort Worth due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the WTA’s decision in 2021 to suspend tournaments in China due to concerns about the safety of former doubles number one Peng Shuai.
A WTA 1000 tournament will now be played in Guadalajara.
The WTA received widespread praise for suspending tournaments in the country after Peng said in a now deleted 2021 social media post that a senior former Chinese government official had sexually assaulted her.
Peng then briefly disappeared from public view and later denied making the accusation, sparking an international outcry over her safety.
The WTA said had called for a formal investigation into Peng’s allegations by the appropriate authorities and a chance to meet with her privately but conceded in April that the situation had shown no sign of changing.
The WTA Tour had staged nine tournaments with a total prize purse of $30.4 million in China in 2019, its last full year of operations in the country.
The men’s ATP Tour will conduct four events in China in 2023, including the Shanghai Masters, with a total financial commitment of over $16 million on its Asia swing.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
