Sawt Falasteen - WTA Finals moved to Texas, 'due' to return to China in 2023

In a statement, the WTA said this year's championships would take place in Fort Worth from October 31-November 7 at the Dickies Arena.

The WTA said the event was "due to return" to Shenzhen, China in 2023.

The tournament was last held in China in 2019 but was cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2021 the finals were moved to Guadalajara, Mexico because of the health situation and travel restrictions.

Shenzhen was named as the long-term venue for the championships in 2018, with the southern Chinese city due to host the tournament through 2028.

Since then however the WTA has suspended all tournaments in China over concerns for the well-being of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai.

The former doubles world number one alleged in a social media post last November that former Chinese vice-premier Zhang Gaoli forced her into sex during a years-long relationship.

The post was swiftly deleted and Peng was not heard from for nearly three weeks, prompting concern around the world about her safety. She has since appeared at some public events, and denied ever making the accusation.

WTA chief executive Steve Simon said in December the organisation was suspending events in China until further notice out of concerns for Peng's safety.

"I don't see how I can ask our athletes to compete (in China) when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has seemingly been pressured to contradict her allegation of sexual assault," Simon said in a statement.

"Given the current state of affairs, I am also greatly concerned about the risks that all of our players and staff could face if we were to hold events in China in 2022."

H.Jarrar--SF-PST