Chinese Tennis Star Peng Shuai Denies Making Sexual-Assault Accusations

“There’s been a lot of misunderstanding,” Ms. Peng said in the interview, describing the situation as touching on “my personal privacy.”

“There shouldn’t be any distorted interpretations,” she said.

Her words follow a Nov. 2 post that appeared on Ms. Peng’s verified social-media account, which described an on-and-off relationship with former Chinese Vice Premier

Zhang Gaoli

that lasted for some years, and was sometimes consensual and sometimes involved coercion. The post alleged that in one instance Mr. Zhang forced Ms. Peng to have sex with him, but it didn’t use the Chinese term for sexual assault to describe the encounter.

The Nov. 2 post disappeared after about 20 minutes. Although Ms. Peng’s social-media account remains online, its commenting function has been disabled and her name is blocked in searches.

Ms. Peng’s interview hasn’t eased concerns about her, the Women’s Tennis Association said.

“We remain steadfast in our call for a full, fair and transparent investigation, without censorship, into her allegation of sexual assault,” the organization said.

Some international tennis stars also said they were unconvinced by the video. “Total and utter BS,” 18-time Grand Slam champion

Martina Navratilova

wrote on a

Twitter

in response to the video.

“This is… unsettling…,”

Chris Evert,

another winner of 18 Grand Slam titles, wrote in her own response on Twitter.

The Weibo post initially placed Ms. Peng at the center of a media storm. Attention expanded nearly two weeks later on Nov. 14, when

Steve Simon,

chairman of the WTA, said the organization hadn’t been able to reach Ms. Peng after repeated attempts, and he called for an investigation into her allegation.

In the interview published Sunday, Ms. Peng said she personally wrote an email in Chinese to Mr. Simon. She added that an English-language version published on Nov. 17 by China’s state-run broadcaster CGTN, saying that the sexual-assault allegation was untrue and that “everything is fine,” was a translation.

“In terms of meaning and the information in it, there is no difference,” she said of the two versions.

Mr. Simon said at the time it was sent that the email raised more concerns about her safety and whereabouts. Fellow tennis stars, including

Naomi Osaka

and

Serena Williams,

posted messages of concern for her, using the Twitter hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai.

The incident also unleashed a global storm of suspicion about Ms. Peng’s health and safety. Mr. Simon said international pressure could help clarify the situation and protect Ms Peng. As a result, the WTA announced its suspension of future tournaments in China earlier this month. Human-rights organizations called for a boycott of the Winter Olympics, which are set to begin in Beijing in February, pointing to China’s human-rights record and insisting that Ms. Peng is not genuinely free.

Representatives of China’s Foreign Ministry have said they are unaware of Ms. Peng’s allegations. Questions and answers about Ms. Peng have been omitted from official daily transcripts published by the ministry. On China’s tightly regulated internet, discussions of Ms. Peng’s situation have been muted.

The Foreign Ministry has protested what it says are attempts to politicize the 2022 Olympic Games.

Ms. Peng’s interview came hours after Chen Qingqing, a journalist at the nationalist state-owned Global Times, posted a seven-second video clip on Twitter—which is blocked in China—showing Ms. Peng with…