Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai repeats sexual assault denial

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai said she never accused anyone of sexual assault, in an interview published Monday, again walking back an allegation that sparked what she described as a "huge misunderstanding".

The former doubles world number one alleged in a social media post in November that former Chinese vice-premier Zhang Gaoli forced her into sex during a years-long relationship.

The post was swiftly deleted and Peng was not heard from for nearly three weeks, prompting concern around the world about her safety. She has since appeared at some public events, and denied ever making the accusation.

"I never said anyone had sexually assaulted me in any way," Peng told the French sports daily L'Equipe on Sunday, reiterating a similar comment she gave to a Singaporean newspaper in December.

The 36-year-old said she was the one who deleted her allegation from Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform.

It was widely suspected that China's strict internet censors, sensitive about any criticism of the ruling Communist Party, had removed it.

When L'Equipe asked why she deleted it, Peng said: "Because I wanted to."

"There was a huge misunderstanding in the outside world following this post," she said during the interview in the Beijing Winter Olympics bubble.

"I don't want the meaning of this post to be twisted anymore. And I don't want any further media hype around it."

Peng also told L'Equipe that she was retiring from professional tennis, citing a major injury and disruptions to travel and treatment during the pandemic.

Some of the world's biggest tennis stars, including Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic, spoke out about the Peng case. The United Nations and the White House also expressed concern.

The Women's Tennis Association