The 21st century
China · born Xiangtan, 1986 · Wimbledon doubles champion 2013 with Hsieh Su-wei and the first Chinese player ranked world No. 1
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1st
Chinese player ranked world No. 1, in doubles, February 2014
2
Major doubles titles with Hsieh Su-wei: Wimbledon 2013, Roland Garros 2014
96
Minutes taken to win the 2013 Wimbledon final
14
Career-high singles ranking, August 2011
3
Olympic Games, 2008, 2012 and 2016
Peng Shuai was born in Xiangtan, Hunan, on 8 January 1986 and was introduced to tennis at eight by an uncle who coached. She hit with two hands on both forehand and backhand, a style she and Hsieh Su-wei said they adopted because they were too small to hold a racket with one hand as children. She played for the Tianjin team, reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 14 in August 2011, won the Asian Games singles and team gold in 2010, and in 2014 reached the US Open singles semi-finals.
Doubles brought her biggest titles. She and Hsieh first played together as teenagers, split when they turned professional and reunited in 2008. They won Wimbledon in 2013 and Roland Garros in 2014, and in February 2014 Peng became world No. 1 in doubles, the first Chinese player to top either ranking. She won 23 tour-level doubles titles in all, among them Nottingham on grass in 2016 with Andrea Hlaváčková, and played three Olympics, finishing fifth in the 2012 doubles with Zheng Jie.
Her last tour match was in Qatar in February 2020. In November 2021 she posted an accusation of sexual assault against China's former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli on social media; the post was removed, and in December 2021 the WTA suspended its tournaments in China, citing concern for her safety and freedom. WTA events returned to China in 2023.
| Wimbledon 2013 final | Seeded eighth with Hsieh Su-wei, beat the 12th seeds Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 in 96 minutes on Centre Court; the first major title for both |
|---|---|
| Nottingham 2016 | With Andrea Hlaváčková, beat Gabriela Dabrowski and Yang Zhaoxuan 7-5, 3-6, 10-7 in the final at the Nottingham Tennis Centre |
| Wimbledon 2009 singles | Lost in the second round to the 11th seed Agnieszka Radwańska after three and a half hours, having saved five match points |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Women's doubles | with Hsieh Su-wei |
| Nottingham | ||
| 2016 | Women's doubles | with Andrea Hlaváčková |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"This is a really special time."
The person behind the player.
Xiangtan
She began at eight, introduced by an uncle who was a coach. A doubles partner, Laura Siegemund, later described her as "very determined" on court and, off it, "a sweet person, more introverted, more quiet", who "was always up to hit".
Source: Associated Press, 2021Juniors to 2008
Peng and Hsieh played together as teenage amateurs and split when they turned professional. At the 2008 US Open Hsieh asked Peng whether she wanted to team up again; they won their first 11 matches together, with titles in Bali and Sydney.
Source: Associated Press, 2013Childhood
Both Peng and Hsieh hit two-handed on both wings. Peng explained that they had started that way because, as small children, they could not hold the racket with one hand.
Source: Associated Press, 2013Beijing, 2007
At the 2007 China Open Peng beat Martina Hingis, the former world No. 1, in what turned out to be the final match of Hingis's singles career.
Source: WikipediaFebruary 2014
When Peng became the first Chinese No. 1 in doubles, she and Hsieh had won all ten finals they had played together, the latest in Doha the day before.
Source: Tennis.com, 2014Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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