Tournament chiefs admit errors over viral wildcard
The organisers of a professional women's tournament which has gone viral on social media due to a wildcard player's dire performance have acknowledged she should not have been allowed to play.
Egyptian Hajar Abdelkader, 21, lost 6-0 6-0 and served 20 double faults during her first-round match in Nairobi, with the footage leaving many viewers wondering if she had ever played tennis before.
The amateur player won only three points during her 37-minute debut, two of which were double faults by her opponent, Lorena Schaedel, who is ranked 1,026th in the world.
The match took place as part of an International Tennis Federation (ITF) W35 tournament, hosted by Tennis Kenya, the country’s governing body for the sport.
Tennis Kenya has since reached out to both players to offer support given the extensive media coverage of the match. They clarified that Abdelkader applied for entry as a wildcard after the last-minute withdrawal of another player.
While the organization had allowed her entry to maintain a balance of players, they now admit it was a mistake. “The federation has taken note of this experience and will ensure that such an extremely rare occurrence never happens again,” stated Tennis Kenya.
Moreover, the Egyptian Tennis Federation confirmed that Abdelkader is not registered with them and clarified, “Based on the information available, she participated in the ITF tournament in Nairobi through a wildcard granted by the Kenyan Tennis Federation.” They emphasized their absence in Abdelkader’s entry process.
In light of this debacle, both organizations are focused on reinforcing the integrity of competition within the sport.
