|
Peng's wellbeing became a matter of concern among the global
tennis community and rights groups when she appeared to allege
that a former Chinese vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, had sexually
assaulted her in the past.
The Women's Tennis Association suspended tournaments in China
due to concerns over her safety and said her public appearances
did not address or alleviate concerns about her safety.
Peng then said last month she had never accused anyone of
sexually assaulting her, and that a social media post she had
made had been misunderstood.
Zhang has not commented on the matter.
"I'm still a little bit worried about her," Cornet said after
her first-round loss to Naomi Osaka in the Melbourne Summer Set
on Tuesday.
"I have to say that this situation still makes me feel
uncomfortable, and I don't know how she's doing.
"I really don't know what to think about it anymore. I don't
know where is the truth and where are the lies."
Cornet was one of the first players to show her support for Peng
under the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai and a host of current and
former players, including Osaka, Serena Williams and Billie Jean
King, joined the calls seeking to confirm she was safe.
"I'm really happy that all these people followed me and the turn
it took was really unexpected, like the reaction of (WTA chief
executive) Steve Simon and everything that followed was really,
really huge," said Cornet.
"I'm not sure that it changes something (for Peng). It's tough
to know what the effect was on her situation. It's not very
clear ... I'm just hoping for the best and hoping that she's
fine. I feel I don't have the power to do something more."
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.] |
|
