Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai said that her sexual assault claim against a top Chinese official on social media had sparked an “enormous misunderstanding,” in an interview with French sports newspaper L’Equipe published on Monday. “I never said that anyone made me submit to a sexual assault,” the newspaper quoted her saying. “My private life should not be brought up in sports and politics.” Peng, 36, also hinted that she couldn’t see herself returning to tour-level professional tennis after multiple knee surgeries. She hasn’t played on the women’s tour since February 2020. Peng had previously posted on Chinese social media site Weibo that China’s ex-deputy leader, Zhang Gaoli, 75, with the help of his wife, forced her to have sex with him. Her posts were quickly removed from the Internet before she disappeared from the public eye for nearly three weeks. Peng was accompanied by Chinese officials in her subsequent …