Peng Shuai listed to practice at Italian Open as tournament makes major error

It looked as though Peng Shuai had quietly returned to professional tennis after the official Italian Open website named the Chinese star on today’s practice schedule.

The surprise listing proved to be a mistake after it was amended shortly after to display current world number 40 Zhang Shuai’s name instead.

Ben Rothenberg, editor of Racquet Magazine, posted the error and the correction that followed on Twitter, but admitted his “jaw dropped” when he first saw Peng’s name on the site.

Peng has not played a competitive match since the 2020 Qatar Open. The former doubles world number one announced her retirement earlier this year after becoming the focus of widespread concern in 2021.

I don’t know if it’s an error or what, but my jaw dropped as I scrolled through today’s Rome practice schedule… pic.twitter.com/PDHcQoxUpe

Peng sparked worry within the tennis community when she disappeared from the public eye after making sexual assault allegations against a former politician.

In November, the 36-year-old posted a lengthy message on Weibo — one of China’s biggest social media platforms — accusing retired Vice–Premier Zhang Gaoli of coercing her into having sex.

The site removed the post just minutes after and a blanket censorship was issued over the subject, this included Weibo blocking Peng’s name and even the term ‘tennis’ from being searched on the platform.

The two-time doubles Grand Slam winner then disappeared from the public eye, resulting in fellow tennis icons, including Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Andy Murray, expressing their concern online under the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai.

Peng fell silent for three weeks before a string of suspicious events raised more concern for WTA CEO Steve Simon.

One was an