Men’s tennis was facing a major player revolt on Thursday night after failing to join the women’s game in suspending all tournaments in China over the plight of Peng Shuai.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and International Tennis Federation (ITF) were condemned for not following the lead of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which carried out its threat to pull out of the country after being shown “insufficient evidence” Peng was safe.
Wednesday’s decision had piled pressure on the ATP and ITF to show solidarity with their sister organisation but they failed to do so, with the men’s tour even arguing that a “global presence” gave it a better chance of having “a positive influence on society”.
The statement by Andrea Gaudenzi, the ATP’s chairman, was denounced and even mocked, with Tennys Sandgren – who had called for men’s players to “back the ladies up” – posting on Twitter: “This is p— #firegaudenzi.”
Noah Rubin branded the statement “weak”, Dustin Brown wrote “A Lot Of Words, But Not Really Saying Anything… Been The Standard Lately…”, while Reilly Opelka sarcastically called it “POWERFUL”.
The ITF also failed to pull out of China, despite reiterating its call for the country to address Peng’s claims she had been sexually assaulted by its former vice-premier, Zhang Gaoli.
Julian Knight MP, the chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport select committee told Telegraph Sport: “This looks to the outside world like the ATP and ITF are gutless.
“This is a crucial moment for the sport, whether or not the dollar sign is more important than solidarity and integrity in the game. I hope that leading tennis players around the world will put pressure on the ATP and ITF to follow the example of the WTA.”
Despite not joining the WTA’s China boycott, Gaudenzi said Peng’s plight had raised “serious concerns” and that the response to them had “fallen short”.
“We again urge for a line of open direct communication between the player and the WTA in order to establish a clearer picture of her situation,” he added.
“We will continue to consult with our members and monitor any developments as this issue evolves.”
