Peng Shuai (; ; born 8 January 1986) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. In February 2014, she was ranked in doubles world No. 1 by the WTA, becoming the first Chinese tennis player to achieve that ranking in any discipline. She peaked at No. 14 of the singles rankings in August 2011, and won two singles and 23 doubles titles on the WTA Tour.
Peng won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games, defeating Akgul Amanmuradova in the singles final. At the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, Peng won her first major title, in women's doubles with Hsieh Su-wei. 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, after making a post on Weibo. It detailed a long-term affair involving Zhang Gaoli, a retired Chinese Vice Premier, who was reportedly accused of sexually assaulting her. 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 limited public appearances since the incident. Although unsatisfied with the case, WTA events returned to China in 2023.
Early life 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 played tennis, introduced her to the game. She favors hardcourts and two-handed forehand (though her backhand is the better side). 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. Following surgery, in 1999 she joined the state training program in Tianjin aimed at producing internationally competitive athletes, especially Olympians.
Career 2001–2004: Debut on the ITF Circuit 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 major main draw at Wimbledon. 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. By the end of 2004, Peng had won her eighth ITF Women's Circuit singles title at Shenzhen-2. She ended the year ranking 73 in the world and was able to focus solely on WTA Tour events thereafter.
2005–2007: Solo 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 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 major 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 the China Open, Peng beat former world No. 1 and five-time Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis in the final match of Hingis's professional career. She finished the year with a 26–21 record in singles, a doubles title in Guangzhou with Yan Zi, and one top-ten win against Amélie Mauresmo.
2008–2010: New coach, doubles with Hsieh, injuries After a string of losses in 2008, Peng recorded her first win of the year at the Tier-II Bangalore Open against Anne Kremer before losing to Venus Williams; she also won the doubles title with Sun Tiantian. At Strasbourg, she recorded a top-ten win when top seed Marion Bartoli was forced to retire in round one while trailing. Peng reached the second round of the US Open for the first time in her career, defeating Eleni Daniilidou before losing to Flavia Pennetta.
At the Summer Olympics, Peng competed in the women's singles, and the women's doubles with Sun Tiantian. The doubles pair were knocked out in the first round, and Peng lost to Alizé Cornet in the second round of the singles.
In early 2009, Peng announced that she will be coached full-time for the 2009 season by Tarik Benhabiles.Peng Hires World-Renowned Coach Benhabiles WTATour.com, 2 January 2009 She won the Sydney International doubles title with Hsieh Su-wei, defeating Nathalie Dechy and Casey Dellacqua in the final. At the Italian Open in May, Peng partnered with Hsieh again and won the doubles title by defeating Daniela Hantuchová and Ai Sugiyama. At the French Open, Peng was knocked out of the singles event but partnered with Hsieh to reach the semifinals in doubles, defeating Hantuchová & Sugiyama in the third round and the Radwańska sisters in the quarterfinals before losing to Victoria Azarenka and Elena Vesnina.
At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Peng fell to No. 11 Agnieszka Radwańska in the second round, after a mammoth battle of three and a half hours. Despite saving five match points, she eventually lost in three sets. Her 'never say die' attitude won her the admiration of many English fans. During the China Open, Peng defeated the 2008 champion and former world No. 1 Jelena Janković, who picked up a wrist injury in the latter stages of the match. In the third round, Peng won against former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova. In the quarterfinals, she lost to Nadia Petrova. In doubles, Peng partnered with Hsieh and won the title, bringing her ranking to a career high of 13.
At both the 2010 Hobart International and the Australian Open, Peng was stopped by Zheng Jie. Peng reached the second round of the Indian Wells Open and the semifinals at the Estoril Open. Afterwards, she suffered a series of injuries. In the first round of the Premier Mandatory Madrid Open, she had to retire due to a right adductor muscle strain. In the second round, she was defeated by Arantxa Parra Santonja. Peng then withdrew from the French Open and missed the whole of the grass-court season due to illness. In the US Open, Peng advanced to the third round before withdrawing from the tournament with injury. She then suffered two first-round exits at the Pan Pacific Open and the China Open, lowering her ranking to No. 95.
In the ITF Circuit, Peng won a trophy at the $100k event in Taipei and ended the season representing China in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. She won gold in the team event alongside Li Na, Yan Zi and Zhang Shuai. In the doubles event, she gained a bronze with partner Yan Zi, and in the singles event, she won another gold, defeating Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan.
2011–2012: Singles career-high No. 14
At the 2011 Auckland Open, Peng caused a big upset by defeating No. 3 seed Kuznetsova in the second round. At the Australian Open, she defeated Kateryna Bondarenko, Jelena Janković, and Ayumi Morita to reach the fourth round of a major for the first time in her career, before losing to Agnieszka Radwańska. Her ranking rose to No. 40. In the third round of the Indian Wells Open, she defeated No. 7 seed Li Na for the first time in her career. Peng reached the semifinals at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, rising to a new career high of 29 in the world rankings. Peng also won the doubles title alongside Zheng Jie at the Italian Open.
Peng reached the finals at the Brussels Open but fell to world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki. At the French Open, Peng retired due to illness in the third round. At Wimbledon, she reached the round of 16 before losing to the fifth seed and eventual runner-up Maria Sharapova. Posting good results at Cincinnati, Peng reached her career-high ranking of world No. 14. After withdrawing due to an injury from the US Open Series, she reached the round of 16 at the US Open before losing to Flavia Pennetta.
At both the 2012 Australian Open and the Dubai Championships, Peng fell in the second round. She took a month's break after her Malaysian Open and returned to play in the Madrid Open. However, she lost in early rounds in Madrid, Rome, and Brussels. At the Wimbledon Championships, she defeated Sandra Zaniewska, Ayumi Morita and Arantxa Rus to reach her second consecutive round of 16 before losing to Maria Kirilenko. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Peng reached the second round in the women's singles and the quarterfinals in the women's doubles, partnering with Zheng Jie.
2013–2014: Doubles champion and world No. 1 Peng started her 2013 season by reaching the semifinals in the new Shenzhen Open. She was not able to progress beyond the first or the second round, however, at Hobart International, the Australian Open, Madrid Open, Italian Open, and reached only the third round at Indian Wells. She reached the final in the Brussels Open, defeating Sofia Arvidsson, Olga Govortsova, Sloane Stephens, and Romina Oprandi before losing to Kaia Kanepi. Peng again lost in either the first or the second round at Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the US Open, and China Open. She ended the year with a ranking of 45.
On the other hand, Peng began her huge success as a doubles player in 2013. Paired with long-time childhood friend Hsieh Su-wei, Peng clinched five double's titles in 2013, including two Premier-5 events (Rome and Cincinnati), Wimbledon, and WTA Championships. Peng became the first Chinese player to win the WTA Tour Championships, and the fifth to win a Grand Slam title, after Zheng Jie, Yan Zi, Sun Tiantian and Li Na.