Peng Shuai peaked at No 14 of the singles rankings in August 2011, and won two singles and 23 doubles titles on the WTA Tour.
78 Facts About Peng Shuai
2.
At the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, Peng Shuai won her first major title in doubles, with Hsieh Su-wei.
3.
Peng Shuai won the women's doubles title at the 2014 French Open with Hsieh.
4.
Peng Shuai is known for playing with two hands on both sides and hits very flat.
5.
Peng Shuai has defeated many top-10 and top-5 players, including Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis, Amelie Mauresmo, Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Francesca Schiavone, Jelena Jankovic, Agnieszka Radwanska, Marion Bartoli, and Vera Zvonareva.
6.
In November 2021, Peng Shuai disappeared from public after making a post on Weibo.
7.
International concerns for Peng Shuai grew, and the WTA suspended all its events in the country.
8.
Peng Shuai began playing at age eight when an uncle, a famous tennis coach in China and the only other family member who plays tennis, introduced her to the game.
9.
At age 13, Peng Shuai 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.
10.
In June 2001, the 15-year-old Peng Shuai won her first singles title at Baotou, a $10k tournament, defeating countrywoman Sun Tiantian in the semifinal.
11.
In February 2002, Peng Shuai won her third $10k singles title.
12.
Peng Shuai rose up to No 107 in the rankings and gained her direct entry into her first Grand Slam main draw at Wimbledon.
13.
Peng Shuai was defeated there by 14th seed Silvia Farina Elia.
14.
Peng Shuai ended the year ranking 73 in the world and was able to focus solely on WTA events thereafter.
15.
In mid-2000s, Peng Shuai decided to "fly solo" and no longer give over half of her earnings to the state training program.
16.
At the Australian Open, Peng Shuai won her first major singles match, defeating Maria Elena Camerin before being overcome by Venus Williams in the second round.
17.
In 2006, Peng Shuai 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.
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Peng Shuai 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.
19.
In 2007, Peng Shuai 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.
20.
At the China Open, Peng Shuai beat former world No 1 and five-time Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis in the final match of Hingis's professional career.
21.
Peng Shuai reached the second round of the US Open for the first time in her career, defeating Eleni Daniilidou before losing to Flavia Pennetta.
22.
At the Summer Olympics, Peng Shuai competed in the women's singles, and the women's doubles with Sun Tiantian.
23.
The doubles pair were knocked out in the first round, and Peng Shuai lost to Alize Cornet in the second round of the singles.
24.
In early 2009, Peng Shuai announced that she will be coached full-time for the 2009 season by Tarik Benhabiles.
25.
Peng Shuai won the Sydney International doubles title with Hsieh Su-wei, defeating Nathalie Dechy and Casey Dellacqua in the final.
26.
At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Peng Shuai fell to No 11 Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round, after a mammoth battle of three and a half hours.
27.
In doubles, Peng Shuai partnered with Hsieh and won the title, bringing her ranking to a career high of 13.
28.
At both the 2010 Moorilla Hobart International and the Australian Open, Peng Shuai was stopped by Zheng Jie.
29.
Peng Shuai reached the second round of the Indian Wells Open and the semifinals at the Estoril Open.
30.
Peng Shuai then withdrew from the French Open and missed the whole of the grass-court season due to illness.
31.
Peng Shuai then suffered two first-round exits at the Pan Pacific Open and the China Open, lowering her world ranking to No 95.
32.
Peng Shuai won gold in the team event alongside Li Na, Yan Zi and Zhang Shuai.
33.
At the 2011 Auckland Open, Peng Shuai caused a big upset by defeating No 3 seed Kuznetsova in the second round.
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Peng Shuai reached the semifinals at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, rising to a new career high of 29 in the world rankings.
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Peng Shuai won the doubles title alongside Zheng Jie at the Italian Open.
36.
Peng Shuai reached the finals at the Brussels Open but fell to world No 1, Caroline Wozniacki.
37.
At the French Open, Peng Shuai retired due to illness in the third round.
38.
At both the 2012 Australian Open and the Dubai Tennis Championships, Peng Shuai fell in the second round.
39.
Peng Shuai took a month's break after her Malaysian Open and returned to play in the Madrid Open.
40.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Peng Shuai reached the second round in the women's singles and the quarterfinals in the women's doubles, partnering with Zheng Jie.
41.
Peng Shuai started her 2013 season by reaching the semifinals in the new Shenzhen Open.
42.
Peng Shuai was not able to progress beyond the first or the second round at Hobart International, the Australian Open, Madrid Open, Italian Open, and reached only the third round at Indian Wells.
43.
Peng Shuai reached the final in the Brussels Open, defeating Sofia Arvidsson, Olga Govortsova, Sloane Stephens, and Romina Oprandi before losing to Kaia Kanepi.
44.
Peng Shuai again lost in either the first or the second round at Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the US Open, and China Open.
45.
Peng Shuai ended the year with a ranking of No 45 in the world.
46.
Peng Shuai 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.
47.
In 2014 Peng Shuai reached the final in the Shenzhen Open and lost to Li Na.
48.
Peng Shuai lost in the second round in the doubles event with Hsieh against Shahar Pe'er and Silvia Soler Espinosa.
49.
Peng then won two consecutive doubles titles, winning the Pattaya Open with Zhang Shuai defeating Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova in the final, and winning the Qatar Open with Hsieh Su-wei defeating Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik in the final.
50.
However, since Wimbledon, Peng Shuai found her pace in the singles events.
51.
Peng Shuai reached the last 16 at the Wimbledon Championships.
52.
Peng Shuai clinched title in the 125k event in Nanchang.
53.
At the US Open, Peng Shuai made her first Grand Slam singles quarterfinal and semifinal appearances, defeating compatriot Zheng Jie, fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, 28th-seeded Roberta Vinci, 14th-seeded Lucie Safarova, and rising star Belinda Bencic en route, all in straight sets.
54.
Peng Shuai skipped playing the following Hong Kong Open to recover, but made promotional appearances there.
55.
Peng Shuai came back to the game in the Wuhan Open, China Open, and Tianjin Open.
56.
Peng Shuai started the season with her Tianjin teammate Xu Yifan in preparation for the 2016 Olympics, but ended up losing in the first round matches in the Shenzhen Open and Australian Open.
57.
Peng Shuai was particularly frustrated by Xu, who was constantly attacked by their opponents and making a lot of unforced errors, and decided to split the partnership.
58.
Peng Shuai played two more tournaments, with Kveta Peschke at Dubai and Zarina Diyas at Madrid, but was not able to win a set.
59.
Peng Shuai suffered from a number of early exits in several events, including a first-round loss in the Rio Olympics.
60.
Peng Shuai benefited from the withdraw from Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinal and beat Danka Kovinic in the semifinal, which lasted for two days due to rain delays.
61.
Peng Shuai had to play the final several hours after the semifinal against the 2014 champion Alison Riske and won in two sets.
62.
Peng Shuai won the doubles final match with Christina McHale.
63.
Peng Shuai started the season in the Shenzhen Open, where she lost to the eventual champion, Katerina Siniakova, in the opening round.
64.
Peng Shuai then competed in the Taiwan Open, where she reached her eighth WTA final without losing a set.
65.
Peng Shuai reached the fourth round in Indian Wells but fell in the first round in the Madrid Open against Carla Suarez Navarro.
66.
Peng Shuai won her second WTA singles title at the Jiangxi International Open in Nanchan, China defeating Nao Hibino in the final.
67.
Peng Shuai retired during the third set of her first-round match against Kristyna Pliskova due to a thigh injury.
68.
Peng Shuai was defeated in the first rounds at the Australian Open, Roland Garros, and Wimbledon, and in the second round at the US Open.
69.
At the Jiangxi International Open, Peng Shuai made it to the semifinals where she was defeated by Elena Rybakina.
70.
Peng Shuai was defeated in the first or second rounds in Wuhan, Beijing, and Tianjin but won against Zhu Lin in the final of the Suzhou Ladies Open.
71.
Peng Shuai started into 2020 season at the Shenzhen Open, where she lost in the second round to fifth seed and eventual champion Ekaterina Alexandrova.
72.
In February 2022, Peng Shuai announced her retirement during an interview with the French magazine L'Equipe, where she mentioned her 2021 social media post and subsequent events.
73.
Peng Shuai refused at first, but Zhang continued to try to persuade her.
74.
Peng Shuai's post drew attention to the MeToo movement in China, where activist Zhou Xiaoxuan expressed her sympathies, but it was removed within 20 minutes of being uploaded, and related discussions became widely censored in China.
75.
Peng Shuai did not communicate on social media afterwards and was not reachable by the WTA.
76.
Depictions of Peng Shuai emerged via Chinese state media, but various China watchers and human rights advocates worried that they might be government propaganda and she might not be free.
77.
Peng Shuai attended a meeting with IOC officials and several events at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
78.
Peng Shuai was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2022, where feminist activist Lu Pin highlighted Peng's Weibo post, disappearance, and impact on the defense of women's rights against authoritarianism.