The organisers of a professional women's tournament have acknowledged errors in granting a wildcard to player Hajar Abdelkader, whose poor performance became a viral topic online.
Egyptian 21-year-old Abdelkader lost 6-0 6-0 and committed 20 double faults during her match in Nairobi, raising eyebrows and skepticism about her tennis experience.
In the 37-minute match, she won only three points, two of which were due to double faults by her opponent, Lorena Schaedel, who is ranked 1,026th in the world.
The match was part of an International Tennis Federation (ITF) W35 event, hosted by Tennis Kenya, the national governing body for tennis in the region.
Tennis Kenya has reached out to both players to offer support following the media fallout from the match. They stated that Abdelkader entered the tournament as a wildcard at the last moment, following another player's withdrawal.
They conceded that, in hindsight, allowing her to play was a mistake made in the interest of maintaining player representation.
The governing body assured that lessons have been learned from this experience to ensure it does not happen again in the future. They asserted their dedication to fairness, transparency, and the integrity of the sport while promoting tennis across Africa.
The Egyptian Tennis Federation confirmed that Abdelkader was never registered as an Egyptian player and was not entered into the tournament under Egypt's representation. Technical director Dia Nabil Loutfy emphasized that Abdelkader participated in the tournament entirely through the wildcard given by Tennis Kenya, and the Federation had no involvement in this decision.
In conclusion, the incident highlights the importance of rigorous player vetting processes in competitive tournaments to uphold the standards of professional tennis.
