The governing body of men's tennis has been criticised for not joining the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in suspending tournaments in China over the treatment of former doubles world number one Peng Shuai.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), in a statement released a day after the WTA opted to take decisive action given concerns surrounding Peng and the safety of other players, said it will continue to monitor the situation.

Martina Navratilova and Andy Roddick were among the players to criticise the ATP's stance.

"The situation involving Peng Shuai continues to raise serious concerns within and beyond our sport," ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said.

"The response to those concerns has so far fallen short. We again urge for a line of open direct communication between the player and the WTA in order to establish a clearer picture of her situation.

"We know that sport can have a positive influence on society and generally believe that having a global presence gives us the best chance of creating opportunity and making an impact."

When asked by Reuters if the ATP had any plans or was considering whether to suspend Chinese operation, the governing body said it had no comment beyond Gaudenzi's statement.

In a post on Twitter, 18-time grand slam champion Navratilova called the ATP's response "embarrassing", adding: "Are we to understand that the @ATP would have made the same statement had the player been a male? Somehow I think not."

Replying to an image of the ATP's statement, former world No. 1 Roddick said: "How to say a lot of words and say nothing."

Peng's whereabouts became a matter of international concern following a nearly three-week public absence after she posted a message on social media in early November alleging that China's former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli had sexually assaulted her.

Peng, a three-times Olympian, appeared in mid-November at a dinner with friends and at a children's tennis tournament in Beijing, photographs and videos published by Chinese state media and by the tournament's organisers showed.

The International Olympic Committee said it had held a second video call with Peng on Wednesday following one late last month.

The WTA, whose decision could cost it hundreds of millions of dollars in broadcasting and sponsorship, was applauded by many in the tennis community for taking the stand it did but the ATP is not ready to follow suit.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF), which is the governing body of tennis, said in a statement sent to Reuters after its board meeting on Thursday that it stands in support of all women's rights.

"Our primary concern remains Peng Shuai's wellbeing. The allegations Peng made must be addressed," the ITF said. "We will continue to support all efforts being made to that end, both publicly and behind the scenes."

Information from Reuters contributed to this report

You voted in your thousands in our athletes of the year poll and here are your choices

Elaine Thompson-Herah and Eliud Kipchoge are your picks as the AW international athletes of 2021, with Keely Hodgkinson and Josh Kerr voted top British senior athletes at the end of a high-quality year of competition.

Our annual poll almost certainly saw the highest number of votes in its history as you selected your favourite athletes in 13 different categories.

You can read more in the December issue of AW magazine, which includes interviews with many of the winners. But, for a quick glance at the basic results, read on.

International Female

1 Elaine Thompson-Herah
2 Sifan Hassan
3 Faith Kipyegon

Thompson-Herah won 100m, 200m and 4x100m golds in Tokyo and ran 10.54 for 100m to go No.2 on the world all-time rankings. She proved an emphatic winner of this category with twice as manny votes as runner-up Sifan Hassan.

“I have never been this fast,” she says. “I’m very happy with what I’ve accomplished in 2021.”

International Male

1 Eliud Kipchoge
2 Andre de Grasse
3 Karsten Warholm

Kipchoge won his second Olympic gold in the marathon in Tokyo and beat off competition from not only Andre De Grasse and Karsten Warholm but Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Mondo Duplantis, Ryan Crouser and others to win this category.

“It felt incredibly special,” he said on his victory at the Games in August. “I am now one of the three athletes in history to have won the Olympic marathon twice.”

British Female

1 Keely Hodgkinson
2 Laura Muir
3 Daryll Neita

After winning the European indoor 800m title, Hodgkinson went on to take Olympic silver in Tokyo and she tells AW that 2021 exceeded her expectations.

“At the beginning of the year my goals were that I wanted to break two minutes and I wanted to get that world indoor record because I was pretty close to it the year before and this was my last year to do it,” she said.

“I wanted to try and make the Olympic team, but with the hopes of maybe winning the European Junior Championships. That all kind of got flipped upside down – in the best way possible.”

British Male

1 Josh Kerr
2 Chris Thompson
3 Elliot Giles

Endurance runners dominated with Olympic bronze medallist Kerr beating marathon man Thompson and 800m talent Giles to first place in our readers’ poll.

Looking back on the Olympic 1500m final, Kerr said: “You don’t get handed anything on a day when the Olympic record is beaten by three seconds. You have to go out and grab what you think is yours so everything I had was just laid out on that track in Tokyo.”

International Junior Female

1 Christine Mboma
2 Athing Mu
3 Briana Williams

The Namibian runner who switched from 400m to 200m in 2021 due to DSD regulations proved a landslide winner in this category. She won Olympic silver in a world under-20 record of 21.81 and also took the world junior title and Diamond League final victory.

International Junior Male

1 Sasha Zhoya
2 Erriyon Knighton
3 Gabriel Wallmark

“For now, I’m happy with what I’ve done but we’ve seen a lot of people who have done well in the junior ranks who haven’t made it to the next level,” Zhoya adds. 

“If I can put my name in the senior books and do well at a major championships then I can look back on what I did as a junior in the regard that was progression to my full career. 

British Junior Female

1 Keely Hodgkinson
2 Joy Eze
3 Megan Keith

After winning the senior award, Hodgkinson was pretty much a shoo-in for the under-20 prize and she ended up a resounding winner ahead of sprinter Eze and endurance runner Keith with hammer thrower Charlotte Payne a close fourth.

British Junior Male

1 Toby Makoyawo
2 Max Burgin
3 Edward Faulds

A competitive category saw European under-20 100m gold medallist Makoyawo beat 800m man Burgin, despite the latter only racing once all summer when he ran a European record to win in Ostrava.

“I feel very grateful to win an award like this,” says Makoyawo, who is based in the USA. “It’s amazing knowing there are people out there that I don’t know but have supported my journey and recognise me as someone who is talented. It motivates me to continue working hard to reach my potential because now I know people are taking inspiration from it.”

British Masters Female

1 Lisa Thomas
2 Sally Cooke
3 Yuko Gordon

Excelling at everything from 300m hurdles through to 3000m steeplechase, the W55 athlete Thomas beat W50 sprinter Cooke and W70 marathoner Gordon to the top prize.

British Masters Male

1 Joe Appiah
2 Alastair Walker
3 Derek Jackson

Appiah set an M50 UK record in the 100m hurdles this year and topped the national rankings at long jump and triple jump. He dedicates his award to Jason Carty, a fellow veteran sprinter who died this year, adding: “The reason I have been successful is my incredible support network of family, coaches, physios, therapists and sponsors, plus my amazing training group at Kent AC.”

Para Athlete Female

1 Hannah Cockroft
2 Sophie Hahn
3 Fleur Jong

Enjoying a fine Paralympics with T34 100m and 800m golds, Cockroft saw off the challenge of British sprinter Sophie Hahn in a close contest with Dutch 100m sprinter and long jumper Jong in third.

In the T34 100m Cockroft broke her own world record and told AW: “I knew that I could win if I had a good race but I didn’t think those times were in me.”

Para Athlete Male

1 Ntando Mahlangu
2 Marcel Hug
3 Owen Miller

The South African beat Britain’s Richard Whitehead in the T61 200m at the Paralympics and set a world record in the T63 long jump. He said: “I’m grateful for how things unfolded. This year has been beautiful for me and I can now look back and think about the good times.”

Mel Watman Performance of the Year

1 Elaine Thompson-Herah’s 10.54 100m
2 Karsten Warholm’s Tokyo world record
3 Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Barshim’s shared high jump gold

The positions in this new category which has been named in memory of AW’s long-serving editor see-sawed around during the voting period. Eventually as the deadline closed, though, Thompson-Herah’s super-fast 100m run at the Pre Classic in Eugene came out on top.

And then there were four. The MLS Cup playoffs conference semifinals saw Supporters' Shield winners and record points scorers New England Revolution upset on home turf. On the other side of the bracket, fellow No. 1 seed Colorado Rapids were similarly dumped from the postseason in front of their fans.

The playoffs started with a field of 14 teams. Among the 10 clubs eliminated, the four with the most regular-season points all are now watching from home.

It's been dramatic knockout soccer full of upsets, and there's no reason to believe that's going to stop now that we've reached the conference final stage. ESPN's Jeff Carlisle, Kyle Bonagura, Caitlin Murray, Dan Hajducky and Austin Lindberg preview both of this weekend's matches, predicting which clubs will participate in the league's showpiece event on Dec. 11 (3 p.m. ET, stream live on ABC) and whose players will be anxiously awaiting the 2022 preseason while chewing on the bitter taste of defeat.

Eastern Conference final

2. Philadelphia Union vs. 4. New York City FC (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET; stream live on ABC)

Sunday's final isn't the one most predicted, but it still features two of the better teams in the Eastern Conference.

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The Blues have done well to make it this far, taking out No. 5 Atlanta and top-seeded New England along the way, but Sunday's match will be NYCFC's ultimate test. New York was already without Anton Tinnerholm (torn Achilles) and Keaton Parks (blood clot surgery), but now it will be without Golden Boot winner Valentin Castellanos due to the pair of yellow cards he picked up against the Revs. James Sands is an injury worry as well. Castellanos' absence is every bit as big as it looks, as the Argentine scored in both of NYCFC's playoff wins so far.

So who will step in to take his place? In the two games Castellanos missed this season, Talles Magno deputized, although he seems to have fallen out of favor of late. Ismael Tajouri-Shradi could also step in. He has been effective as a super-sub/spot starter in his four seasons with NYCFC, and tallied seven times in 2021, although most of his playing time came as a wide midfielder.

Heber is a more like-for-like option, but a substitute role seems more likely. The Brazilian returned to the field in September after recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee, but has logged just 95 minutes in seven substitute appearances since then. Regardless, the onus will be on Jesus Medina and Maxi Moralez to pick up the attacking slack for NYCFC.

Philadelphia will be at close to full strength now that defender Olivier Mbaizo has cleared the league's health and safety protocols, and the question for the Union is the same as always: Where will the goals come from? Kacper Przybylko -- the Union's version of the Phantom Menace -- is the most likely source, having scored 12 times during the regular season. The team's defenders, Jakob Glesnes foremost among them, are capable as well. But keep an eye on Daniel Gazdag. The scorer of Philadelphia's equalizer against Nashville perked up over the last month of the regular season, and he'll need to be at his best against a stingy NYCFC defense. -- Carlisle

Predictions:

NYCFC showed their resilience in surviving the last moments against New England -- when they were essentially down to nine players -- and then prevailing on penalties. But the Union always seem to find a way, and with Castellanos sidelined, the home side should prevail. -- Carlisle

As tempting as it is to pick NYCFC after they knocked off New England, it's hard to go with the Pigeons without Castellanos in the lineup. This Philadelphia team isn't as good as the one that won the Supporters' Shield a year ago, but it's good enough to win MLS Cup. -- Bonagura

New York City FC is a very good team plenty capable of going to Chester, Pennsylvania, and staging an upset -- but it becomes difficult without Castellanos. Remember, he was the one who scored NYCFC's second goal in their 2-2 draw to the Revs on Tuesday. The Union still don't have the big-game players you can count on to score goals when the stakes are high, but they do have Andre Blake, runner-up for Goalkeeper of the Year, who ought to keep them in it long enough for Philly to find a game winner at home. -- Murray

A round of applause to NYCFC for that howitzer of a match against New England. I said going in that anything other than a Revs victory would be an upset of historic proportions. That's exactly what we got in one of the most entertaining MLS matches in recent memory. Unfortunately for NYCFC, they lost Castellanos to a red card in the process and youngsters Sands and Tayvon Gray got banged up. Conversely, Philadelphia stopped red-hot Nashville in its tracks, Blake holding it scoreless in a PK shootout. This feels like Philly's match to lose. -- Hajducky

Look, being without Castellanos puts NYCFC on the back foot before a ball has been kicked, but they've already lost Tinnerholm and Parks for the season. Ronny Deila's team is no stranger to the next-man-up philosophy, and with the likes of Moralez and (the admittedly maddeningly inconsistent) Medina in place to shoulder the attacking burden, I think the Bronx outfit has what it takes to spring another upset. -- Lindberg

Western Conference final

4. Portland Timbers vs. 7. Real Salt Lake (Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET)

If Real Salt Lake are to extend their magical playoff run and reach MLS Cup, it will represent a significant reversal of fortune from the regular-season series against Portland. The Timbers swept all three meetings between the clubs, outscoring RSL 12-4 in the process, with all of them coming in August or later. In Salt Lake's last trip to Portland, the Timbers won 6-1 in what was one of the most lopsided games in MLS all year.

This isn't the regular season, though, and since the playoffs began the unpredictable nature of a knockout competition has been on full display. After being held without a shot and still advancing against Seattle via penalties in the first round, RSL were better against Sporting Kansas City. They created the better chances and erased an early 1-0 deficit to win 2-1 on a stoppage-time goal from Bobby Wood. Both wins came without Albert Rusnak, who tested positive for COVID-19, but the captain will return for the game against Portland.

The Timbers return to the conference final for the fourth time since entering MLS in 2011, with the latest coming in 2018. After a tough stretch in October, Portland ran off three straight wins to end the regular season before a 3-1 win against Minnesota United and 1-0 defeat of the top-seeded Colorado Rapids to open the playoffs. Portland will be without midfielder Sebastian Blanco due to an apparent hamstring injury and forward Dairon Asprilla, who was red-carded late against Colorado. Those two combined for 17 goals during the regular season, ranking second and third on the team behind leading scorer Felipe Mora. -- Bonagura

Predictions:

RSL have ridden the role of underdog all the way to the Western Conference final, but are they really the underdog now? They're getting players back and Portland will be without Blanco and Asprilla. It's the playoffs, and Diego Valeri is chomping at the bit to play a bigger role, so of course the Timbers will win. -- Carlisle

With Rusnak expected to be back in the lineup for RSL and the Timbers without Asprilla and Blanco, the scales tip back toward the visitors. Salt Lake is clinging to that team-of-destiny vibe, and it would be very MLS for a team that snuck into the playoffs with an interim coach to play for MLS Cup. -- Bonagura

I bet against RSL twice already, and twice I got burned in my predictions for it. This might be me upsetting the soccer gods and messing with their destiny, but I'm going with RSL here. Sure, their head coach quit in the middle of the season to become an assistant at a less dysfunctional club. Sure, two MLS clubs have found new owners in the past year and RSL still sit without a buyer after their previous owner walked away amid allegations of racism and sexism. Sure, the Timbers were consistently better than RSL all year long. But why can't RSL go to Portland and pull out the sort of upset MLS is known for? If Blanco, the heartbeat of the Timbers, is injured, all while Asprilla -- also known as "Mr. November," a nickname that covers October through December -- is out with a red card, then RSL have a fighting chance. After the Washington Spirit won the NWSL last month amid similar chaos, I believe RSL can do the same in MLS. -- Murray

It's remarkable that Real Salt Lake are even here. Their manager left in late August -- taking a baffling demotion to assistant coach with Seattle -- the team's ownership is in flux, and they eked past perennial title contender and first-round opponent Seattle in a penalty kick shootout while registering zero shots. But they also outshot, out-possessed and outplayed Sporting KC in the conference semis. Interim manager Pablo Mastroeni has his feisty squad believing it's them against the world and, hell, maybe it is. I'm a sucker for a Cinderella story; the Carl Spackler-ian Real Salt Lake move on to the final. -- Hajducky

Consider yourselves jinxed, Utahns. Sorry. But without Blanco, Portland has lost the stir that's mixed its drink for the final three months of the season. RSL have the belief and the momentum to take their Cinderella run all the way to MLS Cup. -- Lindberg

New Zealand's Charles Piutau says he has "two countries close to his heart" after confirming his intention to switch nationality to represent Tonga.

And the Bristol back hopes it starts a revolution in Pacific Island rugby.

"I'm really happy for the Pacific nations," Piutau said.

The 30-year-old told the BBC's Sports Desk podcast: "It's not the answer to everything - it's just the start.

"Having more scheduled games, more games against Tier One nations, the two teams that have joined the Super Rugby competition will add more depth, [while] the experienced players [switching nationality] will be able to add into the Pacific nations."

After the eligibility changes were approved by World Rugby's council meeting last month, from January 2022 a player will now be able to represent a different country after a stand-down period of three years.

A player can move to a nation of their, their parents' or grandparents' birth, but can only switch allegiance once.

Piutau, who won his All Blacks caps between 2013 and 2015, denies the concept of switching nationality threatens the integrity of the international game, and explains how he has strong familial and emotional ties to both New Zealand and Tonga.

"I can see that perspective but I think for myself, like many other people, when you've grown up and you've got two cultures that are close to your heart, how can you just say that this one's going to be the only one?" he said.

"Both my parents were born in Tonga, then migrated to New Zealand. Two of my older siblings were born in Tonga and the rest of us were born in New Zealand.

"Obviously my parents' first language is Tongan so at home, I would communicate in Tongan and having my brother playing for Tonga, captaining Tonga, there's always a close connection.

"Our family would always be supporting when I play for New Zealand, and [if] Tonga were playing, our family would be extremely proud and cheering both teams on."

Piutau is one of a handful of players who will likely bolster Tonga's resources at the next Rugby World Cup, while Samoa are the other Pacific nation most likely to prosper from the ruling.

But many other emerging nations, such as Uruguay, Chile, Russia and Georgia, are not set to benefit in the same way, given their onus on picking home-grown players, while there are fears the new laws could be exploited by players moving to, or between, tier one countries.

The chief executive of World Rugby, Alan Gilpin, admits there may be unintended consequences, but is convinced the regulation will boost the global game and lead to a more competitive international scene.

"There's definitely that view that this is a Pacific Island measure," Gilpin told the Sports Desk.

"It's not, although there is no doubt that because they've produced this incredible rugby talent over a long period of time they are going to benefit from players going back and being eligible to play for those nations; we are not shying away from the fact there will be a benefit to the Pacific Islands.

"I think the important thing with the work we've done over the last year, and the reason why it's been a massive consultation process, is this is ultimately something that the game as a whole has supported.

"Portugal, Spain, Germany, Romania, some of the countries in South America, so into Uruguay, certainly, Namibia, all those countries can benefit. They've all produced players that may have been captured.

"There are clearly going to be some moves that people are going to look at and say, 'well, is that what really you were looking to achieve when you set out?'

"I don't think there is any particular unintended consequence we are concerned about, we've just got to be very careful and thoughtful as we move forward in trying to make sure we're being consistent in the way we apply it."

NEW ORLEANS -- Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy knew watching Thursday night's game from a hotel in Frisco, Texas, would be difficult. He just didn't know how difficult.

The good news is McCarthy's Cowboys beat the New Orleans Saints 27-17 to end a two-game losing streak and open up more room over the Washington Football Team in the NFC East with five games to play.

"It was rough, I'm not going to lie," McCarthy told ESPN via phone after the game. "I'm proud of the guys and how it all turned out, but I don't ever want to do this again."

McCarthy was placed in COVID-19 protocols over the weekend after testing positive, and Dan Quinn took over the head-coaching role Thursday. Five other coaches, including offensive line coach Joe Philbin and assistant offensive line coach Jeff Blasko, and two players (Terence Steele and Nahshon Wright) missed the game.

"Adversity win, ugly win, however, you want to define it, you have to have these wins, especially when you get to later in the year when you're playing teams that are trying to get in the playoffs or make a run," McCarthy said. "This is a great experience for us. Let's face it, this is today's NFL. You've got to be able to win with change."

The Cowboys had plenty of change.

Quinn is normally in the coaches' booth for the game, calling defenses, but he was on the sideline Thursday. Tight ends coach Lunda Wells took over the offensive line responsibilities. Offensive assistant Chase Haslett worked with the tight ends. Vice president of player personnel Will McClay was on the sideline, as was consultant Ben McAdoo. Assistant head coach Rob Davis was on a headset for the first time with McCarthy out.

"One thing you've heard me say before is I love doing hard things with a group of people, and this was one of those moments," said Quinn, who was the Atlanta Falcons' head coach for parts of six seasons and had a 2-3 record inside the Superdome. "We got great people to get the job done. We wanted to make sure Mike and all the guys who missed, let them know we got their backs. So honestly, that was the only thing I was nervous about. I didn't want to let him down. He's done a great job leading us, to how it's going to go down, the play style that we wanted. But it was just a cool win."

Quinn's defense contributed four takeaways, all interceptions, including a pick-six by defensive tackle Carlos Watkins. Running back Tony Pollard made it a two-score game in the third quarter with a 58-yard touchdown run, the longest run of his career and the longest scoring run since Ezekiel Elliott had a 60-yarder as a rookie in 2016.

It was the culmination of a week that forced the Cowboys to adjust on the fly. McCarthy ran the meetings all week virtually, and he held his normal pregame meeting via the internet on Thursday. Players and coaches met virtually before and after practices leading into the game and had to grab their meals at The Star to go. With the three strength coaches in COVID protocols, the players did not have access to the weight room all week and had to work out on their own.

"This is one of those weeks where no job is not your job right now," Quinn said.

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones had a funny line ready for Quinn after the game.

"I just told him with a win he's right there with Tom Landry," Jones said, referencing the Hall of Fame coach and Cowboys' all-time win leader. "He can now say he's head coached the Cowboys."

But Quinn will be glad to be back in the coaches' booth for next week's game against Washington.

"I'm hopeful that you guys won't see me again and I'll be back on the top here hopefully by the next game and Mike will make all the progress that we need to have him back on the field and a lot of other guys too," Quinn said. "We missed a number of guys today from the staff and a couple players as well, so hopefully this is hitting us with some time to see if we can get back and get back to our normalcy."

McCarthy said he is feeling much better and hopes to be back in the office early next week once he either posts two negative tests separated by 24 hours or reaches the 10-day quarantine.

He just knows he does not want to have to watch his team play from afar again.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- New Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups questioned his team's effort after a 114-83 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.

The Blazers were without All-Star guard Damian Lillard but still put up little fight against a Spurs team which came into the contest six games below .500.

"My biggest concern, I think, at the moment, is I want us to compete harder, man. I want us to compete harder,'' Billups said. "I want us to be competitive in every game. And I don't feel like every night we do that. We don't. And it concerns me. And I've felt that way in a lot of our wins. This is not just after a loss, me saying this."

The Blazers fell below .500 with the loss and will be without their superstar for the near future. Portland announced on Wednesday that Lillard will miss 10 days with lower abdominal tendinopathy before being reevaluated.

They could be missing third-year guard Anfernee Simons soon as well. Simons, who started in Lillard's place on Thursday, suffered an ankle sprain in the first quarter and did not return.

The Blazers hired Billups this offseason with the hopes of improving the team's defense, which has struggled again nonetheless this season. The Spurs, who have the fewest 3-pointers in the NBA, made 11 in the opening half -- including the first three baskets of the game.

"We didn't have enough personal pride defensively in the game tonight," Billups said.

The loss is just Portland's second at home this season. They are 1-10 on the road.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.