Nairobi: An Egyptian tennis player gained attention after her strangely embarrassing performance at the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) W35 event held in Nairobi, Kenya, where she made 20 double faults (two mistakes in the same point while serving) in a match, prompting the organisation to issue a statement acknowledging the error.
The 21-year-old player, Hajar Abdelkader, was given a wildcard entry and lost 6-0, 6-0 in 37 minutes in a first-round match.
A video of the match showing her struggling with serving and court positioning went viral, with people questioning her skills.
Online users had a field day commenting on the player’s performance, with some alleging unfair practices and others simply wondering if this was her first time playing a professional match.
One user commented, “So iconic that they already making statements for her.”
Another comment read, “This is the technique of that friend we’ve all got that tells everyone repeatedly that they played quite a bit of tennis back in the day and were really pretty good at one point.”
An X user, however, directed the incident towards the organisers, saying, “I don’t think we should be bashing the player Hajar Abdelkader here but rather the organizers and officials who made/let this happen and gave her the WC.”
Tennis Kenya vows to prevent repeat of ‘rare occurrence’
Tennis Kenya came forward and acknowledged it erred in granting the player entry to a professional tournament after video of her dismal performance circulated on social media.
“In hindsight, Tennis Kenya acknowledges that this wildcard should not have been granted. The federation has taken note of this experience and will ensure that such an extremely rare occurrence never happens again,” it said in a statement on Thursday, January 9.
The organisation’s statement said it was “aware of concerns” raised about Abdelkader’s participation.
“The slot became available following a short notice withdrawal by the originally awarded main draw wildcard recipient, who opted into the qualifying draw,” Tennis Kenya explained.
“At the time, Ms Abdelkader was the only other player who had requested a wildcard, and the decision was taken on the information provided and in the interest of maintaining a full and balanced draw while supporting the development of tennis in Africa.”
“In this instance, Ms Abdelkader indicated that she had an appropriate level of competitive playing experience, and the wildcard was issued based on the information provided,” it added.
Tennis Kenya also said that it has reached out to both Abdelkader and the winner of the match, Germany’s Lorena Schaedel, “to keep the wellbeing of both players as a primary consideration.”
