Peng Shuai’s portrait was removed from China’s National Tennis Center after she accused  vice-premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual abuse. Shuai has not been seen since she made the accusations and people are concerned about her safety because the Chinese government is known to crack down heavily on people who criticize government officials.

Shuai posted a detailed account of her relationship with the 75-year old Gaoli on social media. The post was deleted 20 minutes after Shuai posted it. All her recent posts have also been deleted.

Peng Shuai won two doubles grand slam titles in her career – the 2013 Wimbledon Championships and the 2014 French Open title. She also reached the semifinals in singles at the 2014 French Open, which was her best singles performance at a grand slam.

Shuai reached the world number 1 doubles ranking in 2014. Her peak singles ranking was world number 14., which she reached in 2011. She last played competitively in 2020.

Tennis balls are resource-intensive to produce. Tennis players use a can of balls for one or two sessions and throw them away.  Neither the balls nor the containers are recycled most of the time.

At major tournaments, balls are changed every seven or nine games. A grand slam tournament typically goes through 50,000 to 60,000 balls in two weeks.

The ball containers are not recyclable. A recyclable container will not hold pressure as well as a non-recyclable one. Balls are not recyclable either. Once they are dumped in a landfill, tennis balls are likely to sit there for many years because they are not biodegradable.