Peng Shuai campaign ready for Barty final

Even as he was being ejected from the Australian Open for wearing a white T-shirt with a “Where is Peng Shuai?” slogan in black letters, Max Mok saw an opportunity to amplify the message of concern for the grand slam doubles champion from China whose well-being has come into question.

Mok’s plan: He’ll help hand out 1000 of the shirts on Saturday to spectators attending the women’s final between Australia’s No.1-ranked Ash Barty and American Danielle Collins.

Yes, this is the biggest tennis match of 2022 so far, yet someone nowhere near Melbourne Park is in the hearts and minds of players, fans and the WTA, the organisation that runs the women’s professional tour.

“We’ve seen members of the tennis community being supportive of Peng Shuai – Naomi Osaka, namely, and lots of others, including Serena Williams,” Mok, an Australian of Chinese heritage, told The Associate Press on Friday as he unpacked boxes of the shirts.

“It’s a good opportunity to go to the largest tennis event in a while and force (attention).”

Peng, the former No.1-ranked doubles player dropped out of public view in November after accusing a former high-ranking Chinese government official, vice premier Zhang Gaoli, of sexual assault.

Concerns about censorship of Peng and her subsequent disappearance from public view led the WTA to suspend all of its tournaments in China, including the season-ending championships.

The head of the tour repeatedly has called for China to investigate 35-year-old Peng’s accusations and to allow the WTA to communicate directly with her.

Mok and another human rights activist from Australia, Drew Pavlou, have been hoping to do just that at the Australian Open. They raised more than $20,000 to make the shirts they’re distributing.

Mok was one of three people – the other two are Chinese nationals – kicked off tournament grounds last weekend for wearing shirts with “Where is Peng Shuai?” printed on them, with the aim of encouraging players to speak out.

Citing tournament rules barring “political messaging,” security and police told the the trio they needed to remove their shirts or leave. So they left.

Footage of the episode went viral and sparked widespread condemnation, including from International Tennis Hall of Fame member Martina Navratilova.

“It was never planned. It was a coincidence,” Mok said of a small gesture of activism that drew plenty of attention.

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley later said the rules had been revised, allowing the shirts to worn at Melbourne Park – as long as people don’t congregate in large groups or cause problems for other spectators.

Pavlou called the way the initial confrontation was handled an example of censorship and intimidation, which “made us committed to double down and get these 1000 T-shirts out there.”

“They couldn’t evict 1000 from the final,” he said of Tennis Australia.

Pavlou hopes the Australian Open campaign will continue at next month’s Beijing Winter Olympics, even though athletes heading to Beijing have been urged by human rights activists to avoid criticising China because they could be prosecuted.

Either way, Mok and Pavlou figure they managed to make a statement in Australia – one that could be carried around the world by TV cameras during Saturday’s final.