Australian Open 2022: Nick Kyrgios, Garbine Muguruza among players to raise Peng Shuai concerns

It may be the opening grand slam of the year but one absent player is never far from the minds of her fellow pros - and the lack of clarity over Peng Shuai is only heightening their concern.

Multiple tennis players have once again raised the alarm over the safety of Peng Shuai, whose disappearance after making a sexual assault allegation against an elderly former Chinese government official sent shockwaves around the world.

French ace Alize Cornet told News Corp she doesn’t know anybody “that have news from her” since Peng’s social media post regarding the incident mysteriously vanished after just 30 minutes. Fears are growing that she was being censored and now controlled by the Chinese government.

“No, I haven’t spoken to her,” Cornet said.

Her fellow players continue to voice concerns over Peng Shuai.

“How can I? It’s a little bit worrying, but I’m just hoping that she’s fine.

“I hope she knows that we think about her, that we don’t forget her. I am the first one to be open to talk to her if she wants to, but I think it’s more complicated than that.

“I don’t think she has the tools to be able to speak freely.

“If I could talk to her I would ask her if she’s good and how she feels. I would tell her that we are with her and if she needs support we will be there.”

Cornet will meet Garbine Muguruza in the second round on Thursday and the Spaniard, a former world No.1, said the situation was showing no signs of clearing up.

“Are we going to know something about this? I don’t know, I think it’s a complicated country (China) to deal with,” Muguruza said.

“It’s a little bit not moving forward. It’s just there since months and months. I think it’s going to be very difficult to find a real truth and for her to be able to talk freely.”

Video emerged of Peng Shuai having dinner with friends in November, but nothing since.

Nick Kyrgios said: “We need more awareness about it. We can’t forget about her. We have to use our platforms as athletes. I think we’re obligated to do that, we’re obligated to speak up and, you know, get to the root of what’s happening and why it’s happening”.

Last month the WTA suspended tournaments in China out of fears for the safety of Peng, who is a Wimbledon and Roland Garros doubles champion.

The 36-year-old claimed that ex-Chinese vice-premier Zhang Gaoli, who is 40 years her senior, pressured her into having sex three years ago.

Beijing is due to host the Winter Olympics next month, with Australian athletes warned to leave their phones at home and set up unlinked email accounts to mitigate the risk of the Chinese government’s surveillance apparatus spying on them.

The US team has been told not to speak out on human rights issues.

Peng spoke to International Olympics Committee president Thomas Bach on two video calls last year, but the IOC boss hung up no clearer on her safety.

“We can’t provide you with absolute certainty on anything,” an Olympics spokesman said.

IOC president Thomas Back chatted with Peng Shuai in November.

“All we can do is do the best we can in the process that we believe is in the best interests of the wellbeing of the athlete. We can’t give assurances and we don’t know the full facts.”

Peng attempted to retract her claims last month in the Singapore media, describing the situation as a “misunderstanding”.

Cornet also sympathised with deported No.1 seed Novak Djokovic as she vowed to seek a full scouting report of Muguruza from close friend and Billie Jean King Cup teammate Clara Burel, who Muguruza beat on Tuesday.

“What happened to Novak was really, really unlucky,” Cornet said.

“The whole mess around it is what bothers me the most. I feel for him. He got his visa – someone gave it to him somehow and he came all this way and now he’s kicked out of the country.

“I’m always honest and I think we have a lack of honesty in this world, so it’s good to tell what you think.”