Serena Williams said Thursday she’s “devastated and shocked” about the continued public absence of Chinese tennis great Peng Shuai, adding her powerful voice to a growing international outcry.
The hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai has been gaining steam in recent days with former women’s No. 1 Naomi Osaka and current men’s No. 1 Novak Djokovic both sounding the alarm earlier this week about Peng’s whereabouts.
“I am devastated and shocked to hear about the news of my peer, Peng Shuai,” the 23-time major-title winner Williams wrote to her 10.6 million followers on Twitter.
“I hope she is safe and found as soon as possible. This must be investigated and we must not stay silent. Sending love to her and her family during this incredibly difficult time.”
Peng is one of China’s biggest tennis stars of recent years, capturing the 2013 women’s doubles title at Wimbledon and the 2014 doubles championship at the French Open.
Earlier this month, Peng went on the Chinese social media platform Weibo to accuse Zhang Gaoli, a former vice premier in his 70s, of sexually assaulting her during an otherwise on-off relationship while he was in office.
The message posted on Weibo on Nov. 2 was quickly deleted, and any online debate was quashed by government censors who blocked a list of related search terms.
She’s not been seen in public since.
An email sent this week to the Women’s Tennis Association, and published by China’s state-owned English-language satellite news channel, was attributed to Peng and claimed she was okay.
But the head of the WTA cast doubt on the veracity of the email, which has only served to heighten fears about Peng’s safety.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
