The WTA’s decision to end its China boycott over concerns about Peng Shuai will generate much-needed revenue for the women’s tennis tour and provide more financial opportunities for players, Britain’s Anne Keothavong said.
Keothavong, now captain of Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup team, said she hoped former doubles world number one Peng was safe but that ultimately “tennis is a business”.
“From a tennis perspective, hopefully it’ll be a welcome return,” Keothavong told British media. “I don’t know whether they’ve been able to investigate in the way they would have liked, but tennis is a business. The WTA need to generate commercial revenue and the players need a circuit to compete.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, when asked about the WTA’s resumption of events in China, told a press briefing in Beijing on Friday that it was not a foreign affairs issue and that China always opposes the politicizing of sports.
China staged nine WTA events with a total purse of $30.4m in 2019, its last full year of operations in the country before the pandemic imposed travel restrictions.
