The International Tennis Federation (ITF) will not hold any tournaments in 2022 in China, joining the boycott initiated by the WTA due to the Shuai Peng case.
The Chinese tennis player is missing and with worrying doubts about her freedom and ability to communicate on her own after he denounced sexual abuse by former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli in early November.
In a letter addressed to players, the ITF has announced that it will not hold tournaments in China during 2022, a decision initiated by the WTA, canceling its nine tournaments, including the WTA Finals, and from which the ATP seems reluctant, whose funding comes in part from a Chinese company.
In 2019, the last time it could be played in China before the pandemic, the ITF held 15 men’s and 25 women’s tournaments in China, while all of 2020 and 2021 were suspended due to the virus.