Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai says she never made allegations of sexual assault

Peng received international attention after she accused the former Chinese vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, of sexual assault.

After this, Peng went silent for nearly three weeks, and my top tennis stars and international figures expressed concern about her safety, according to the CBC.

On Sunday, Peng wrote that "I need to stress one point that is extremely important, I have never said or written that anyone has sexually assaulted me, I have to clearly stress this point."

This was the first time Peng spoke on the matter after posting the accusations on a Chinese social media website, which was quickly removed.

She then said the entire incident was a "private matter." She added that "people have many misunderstandings."

The Women's Tennis Association vowed that they would suspend tournaments in China as they were concerned about Peng's wellbeing.

"We remain steadfast in our call for a full, fair and transparent investigation, without censorship, into her allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern," said the WTA in a statement.