WTA ‘concerned’ for China’s Shuai

Steve Simon, the head of the WTA, says he remains “deeply concerned” about the whereabouts of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai and her ability to “communicate freely, openly and directly“after allegations that a powerful politician forced her to have sex.

Peng, a three-time Olympian and former top-ranked doubles player, has dropped out of public view after accusing former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual abuse in a Nov. 2 posting on the Chinese internet, which was taken down by Chinese authorities.

Simon has threatened to pull WTA events out of China unless he gets assurances that Peng is speaking freely. Not even Novak Djokovic playing back-to-back could help Serbia avoid losing to Germany in the Davis Cup finals group phase in Innsbruck, Austria. After Djokovic helped Serbia pull even at 1-1 by beating Jan-Lennard Struff, the world No. 1 joined Nikola Cacic in doubles, but lost to Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 in the decider.

Soccer: Diogo Jota scored 97 seconds in, the quickest goal in the English Premier League this season, and added another as second-place Liverpool beat Southampton 4-0 to become the first since Sunderland in 1927 to score two or more goals in 17 straight matches. Ashley Hatch scored her first international goal just 24 seconds into the game and the U.S. women beat Australia 3-0 on Saturday (late Friday PST) before 36,109 at Sydney’s Olympic stadium.

Skiing: Matthias Mayer edged fellow Austrian Vincent Kreichmayr in the seasonopening World Cup men’s downhill at Lake Louise, Alberta.

Obituary: Curley Culp, 75, the Hall of Fame defensive lineman who helped the Kansas City Chiefs win their first Super Bowl during a 14-year NFL career, died of complications from pancreatic cancer.

Frank Gunn / Canadian Press Austria’s Matthias Mayer blasts down the course on his way to winning a men’s World Cup downhill in Lake Louise, Alberta.