The organisers of a professional women’s tournament which has gone viral on social media because of 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 the first-round match in Nairobi on Wednesday, 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 double faults by opponent Lorena Schaedel and an unforced error from the bemused German, ranked 1,026th in the world.
The match was part of an International Tennis Federation (ITF) W35 tournament, hosted by Tennis Kenya, the governing body for the sport in Kenya.
Tennis Kenya said it had reached out to both Abdelkader and Schaedel to offer its support given the extent and nature of coverage of this match.
Tennis Kenya stated Abdelkader had applied to enter the tournament as a wildcard and had been granted entry at the last minute following the withdrawal of another player. They explained that she was permitted to enter to maintain a balance of players and nations represented in the tournament but acknowledged in hindsight that her participation was inappropriate.
The federation has taken note of this experience and will ensure that such an extremely rare occurrence never happens again, the organisation added. Tennis Kenya remains committed to fairness, transparency and the integrity of competition, and to the continued development of tennis in Kenya, East Africa, and across Africa.
The Egyptian Tennis Federation confirmed to the BBC that Abdelkader has never been registered as an Egyptian player and had not entered the tournament representing Egypt. Technical director Dia Nabil Loutfy clarified that they had no records related to Abdelkader and she had never been affiliated with the federation. He emphasized that the Egyptian Tennis Federation was not involved in her entry into the tournament in any capacity.
Egyptian Hajar Abdelkader, 21, lost 6-0 6-0 and served 20 double faults during the first-round match in Nairobi on Wednesday, 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 double faults by opponent Lorena Schaedel and an unforced error from the bemused German, ranked 1,026th in the world.
The match was part of an International Tennis Federation (ITF) W35 tournament, hosted by Tennis Kenya, the governing body for the sport in Kenya.
Tennis Kenya said it had reached out to both Abdelkader and Schaedel to offer its support given the extent and nature of coverage of this match.
Tennis Kenya stated Abdelkader had applied to enter the tournament as a wildcard and had been granted entry at the last minute following the withdrawal of another player. They explained that she was permitted to enter to maintain a balance of players and nations represented in the tournament but acknowledged in hindsight that her participation was inappropriate.
The federation has taken note of this experience and will ensure that such an extremely rare occurrence never happens again, the organisation added. Tennis Kenya remains committed to fairness, transparency and the integrity of competition, and to the continued development of tennis in Kenya, East Africa, and across Africa.
The Egyptian Tennis Federation confirmed to the BBC that Abdelkader has never been registered as an Egyptian player and had not entered the tournament representing Egypt. Technical director Dia Nabil Loutfy clarified that they had no records related to Abdelkader and she had never been affiliated with the federation. He emphasized that the Egyptian Tennis Federation was not involved in her entry into the tournament in any capacity.
