Tennis players have been warned over their social media conduct after two stars were forced to apologise for “distasteful” posts in China this year.

World No 12 Paula Badosa’s coach posted a picture of the player pulling her eyes back with chopsticks, while Magda Linette, the Australian Open semi-finalist, attached a caption to a picture of her journey from Beijing to Wuhan saying that “the virus database has been updated”. Wuhan was the first city to suffer an outbreak of Covid-19, the genesis of the global pandemic.

Both players quickly apologised and the posts were removed, but in a strongly-worded email seen by The i Paper, Portia Archer, the new CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), warned all players on tour that “distasteful content of any kind … will not be tolerated”.

“Tournaments and countries host us as their guests at considerable effort and expense, and it is of absolute importance to respect the local culture of the regions we compete in, all of which make our global Tour a success,” she told players.

“Distasteful content of any kind (such as images, references, text, video) relating to the culture, history, or hurtful stereotypes of a group of people or a region is inconsistent with the values the WTA represents and will not be tolerated.

“Not only do such harmful actions generate negative coverage and reflect poorly for the athlete, but they also impact women’s professional tennis as a whole, along with having negative effects on the hard-working team and staff that organize WTA events.

“These actions can also pose a risk around the entire tournament, with security, transport, and other areas all put in potential jeopardy.”

She added: “There is no place for this in the WTA.”

Archer also made reference to the WTA’s Code of Conduct, which legal experts have told The i Paper is likely to form the basis of any future sanctions against players over social media activity.

“I will take action and responsibility for holding all of us accountable to the standards of the Code,” Archer said.

The strength of feeling is understandable, because China is a key pillar of the ailing WTA’s business model. Back in 2018, the women’s tour signed a 10-year deal to hold its Tour Finals in Shenzhen, worth a reported $1bn (around £800m), but only one edition was held – paying one of the largest prize pots in the history of women’s tennis – before the pandemic hit and the deal was subsequently cancelled.

The WTA then embarked on a boycott of the country over the disappearance of former doubles world No 1 Peng Shuai. She made a public allegation of sexual assault against a former high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official that was subsequently deleted and concerns remain over her freedom of expression. The women’s tour eventually abandoned their boycott before men’s tennis had even returned to China post-pandemic, meaning in reality they did not boycott any tournaments at all.

Now, the Asian swing is dominated by Chinese tournaments on the women’s tour, with £11.7m of prize money handed out across seven tournaments between September and November this year. When you consider the WTA recorded losses of more than that number in both 2020 and 2021, embarrassing such generous hosts is a particularly thorny issue.

The WTA, and Archer in particular, adopted a similar line when quizzed about the tour’s latest major financial partner, the state of Saudi Arabia. The tour’s year-end Finals were held in Riyadh last month amid heavy criticism of the choice of venue, given the country’s human rights record and particularly its gender inequality.

“We often play in environments and in countries that have different customs, different cultures, and in some cases different value systems than I might have personally or that the WTA may have as an organisation based in the United States,” Archer said.

“We respect the values, even if they differ from other countries that we find ourselves in and compete in.”