Peng Shuai

Peng Shuai (Mandarin pronunciation: ; born 8 January 1986) is a Chinese former professional tennis player.

Following surgery, in 1999 she joined the state training program in Tianjin aimed at producing internationally competitive athletes, especially Olympians.

In the mid-2000s, Peng decided to "fly solo" and no longer give over half of her earnings to the state training program.

She and three other Chinese players broke out of the state's control by effectively threatening to stop playing.

At the Australian Open, Peng won her first major singles match, defeating Maria Elena Camerin before being overcome by Venus Williams in the second round.

In June 2001, the 15-year-old Peng won her first singles title at Baotou, a $10k tournament, defeating countrywoman Sun Tiantian in the semifinal.

In October, she debuted on the WTA Tour at Shanghai as a wildcard.

In February 2002, Peng won her third $10k singles title.

The following week, she extended her winning streak to twelve and reached the final of a $25k tournament at New Delhi before losing the championship match to Eva Birnerová.

Further success proved elusive, and she took nearly seven months off from competition at singles events, ending the year with a world ranking of 358.

In 2003, she won her first $25k title at Jackson, Mississippi and her first $50k event at Changsha, improving her year-end ranking to 226.

In 2004, she won her first $75k tournament at Dothan, Alabama.

She rose up to No. 107 in the rankings and gained her direct entry into her first Grand Slam main draw at Wimbledon.

By the end of 2004, Peng had won her eighth ITF singles title at Shenzhen-2.

She ended the year ranking 73 in the world and was able to focus solely on WTA events thereafter.

In September 2005, she reached two further WTA quarterfinals at Beijing and Guangzhou, ultimately finishing the year ranking 37th.

In 2006, Peng lost her first-round ties at the Australian Open, withdrew from subsequent tournaments, and dropped out of the top 60 after losing at Indian Wells and Miami.

At Wimbledon, however, she reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, defeating 20th seed Shahar Pe'er before losing to 16th seed Flavia Pennetta.

She reached the semifinals of the China Open and represented her country for the first time in her Fed Cup career, winning both her ties against Indonesia.

In 2007, Peng failed to get past the second round of the Australian Open and the first round of the US Open but reached the semifinals of the Tier-III Pattaya Open, losing to Sybille Bammer.

At age 13, Peng was admitted to a hospital for heart surgery to repair a defect, a situation which she explained in the 2008 "Impossible is Nothing" campaign from Adidas.

Peng won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games, defeating Akgul Amanmuradova in the singles final.

She peaked at world No. 14 of the singles rankings in August 2011, and won two singles and 23 doubles titles on the WTA Tour.

At the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, Peng won her first major title, in women's doubles with Hsieh Su-wei.

In February 2014, she was ranked as the world No. 1 doubles player by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), becoming the first Chinese tennis player to achieve that ranking in any discipline.

She also won the women's doubles title at the 2014 French Open with Hsieh.

Her best performance at a major in singles came at the 2014 US Open where she reached the semifinals, becoming the third Chinese tennis player in history to reach a major semifinal after Zheng Jie and Li Na.

Peng was known for playing with two hands on both sides and hitting very flat.

She defeated many top-10 and top-5 players, including Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis, Amélie Mauresmo, Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Francesca Schiavone, Jelena Janković, Agnieszka Radwańska, Marion Bartoli, and Vera Zvonareva.

In November 2021, in what was suspected to be a forced disappearance, Peng disappeared from public after making a post on Weibo.

It detailed an affair involving Zhang Gaoli, a retired Chinese Vice Premier, who reportedly forced her to have sex with him.

The news became widely censored in China.

International concerns for Peng grew, and the WTA suspended all its events in the country.

Peng has made some limited public appearances since the incident and announced her retirement from professional tennis.

Although unsatisfied with the case, the WTA announced that it would return to China in 2023.

Peng Shuai was born in Xiangtan.

She began playing at age eight when an uncle, a famous tennis coach in China and the only other family member who plays tennis, introduced her to the game.

She favors hardcourts and two-handed forehand (though her backhand is the better side).

She was defeated there by 14th seed Silvia Farina Elia.

Peng reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal at Cincinnati in August, where she lost to second seed Vera Zvonareva.