Tennis Tournament Faces Backlash Over Controversial Wildcard Entry

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 that Abdelkader had applied to enter the tournament as a wildcard and was given a spot at the last minute following the withdrawal of another player.

The organisation admitted that in hindsight, they should not have allowed her to play. It stressed, The federation has taken note of this experience and will ensure that such an extremely rare occurrence never happens again. They reaffirmed their commitment to fairness, transparency, and the integrity of competition.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian Tennis Federation confirmed that Abdelkader has never been registered as an Egyptian player and had not been entered into the tournament on Egypt's behalf. Technical director Dia Nabil Loutfy clarified, The player was previously residing in Kenya and participated in the ITF tournament in Nairobi through a wildcard granted by the Kenyan Tennis Federation. They reiterated that the Egyptian Tennis Federation had no role in the wildcard issuance and had no records relating to her.