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‘Embarrassing but not surprising’ – American talent slams ATP after ITF China suspension move


As the ITF reveal they will follow suit with the WTA in suspending events in China, the ATP is the last major governing body to make a move.

ITF president David Haggerty had previously stated the organisation had no plans regarding China. He was quoted as saying that he “did not want to punish a billion people.”

However, the ITF is apparently reversing that decision, leaving the ATP as the last governing body to make a decision in the region.

The WTA and ITF have made the moves in response to the censorship of former doubles world number one Peng Shuai amid accusations of sexual assault she made against former Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli.

Now, the ATP has begun to receive heightened criticism after ealrier backlash for their hands-off approach.

In particular, American world number 26 Reilly Opelka has called out the organisation on the matter.

“Everyone is out but the ATP,” he tweeted in response to the ITF news.

“Pretty embarassing, but not surprising,” he added.

Opelka has not been best pleased with the operation of the ATP and has previously taken aim at the organisation over their ‘conflicts of interest’.

Shuai has not been seen publicly since she made the allegations on Weibo on 2nd November, with individuals unable to contact her directly either.

The IOC has been the only organisation outside China that has been able to communicate with the star, doing so twice over video call.

Unfortunately, the footage for these interactions has not been made public, only still images.

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