US EditionKenya tennis body admit mistake in granting wildcard to viral 'worst-ever' debutant
Tennis Kenya admitted the wildcard was a mistake after 21-year-old Abdelkader lost 6-0, 6-0 with 20 double faults at the ITF W35 tournament, sparking widespread criticism.
- Wednesday, Tennis Kenya acknowledged it erred in granting a wildcard to Hajar Abdelkader at the ITF W35 tournament in Nairobi, saying `In hindsight, this wildcard should not have been granted`.
- A short-notice withdrawal opened a main-draw slot, which Tennis Kenya filled after Abdelkader submitted a formal request and flew into Nairobi on Tuesday morning to keep the draw full.
- Match data — including 20 double faults and an 8.3% first-serve rate — underscored the gulf in level as Abdelkader lost 6-0, 6-0 in 37 minutes, winning only three points against Germany's Lorena Schaedel.
- The ITF and Tennis Kenya said they contacted Hajar Abdelkader and Lorena Schaedel to prioritise their wellbeing, and Tennis Kenya vowed to prevent such rare occurrences in the future.
- In recent years there has been a constant outcry over wildcard allocation practices at lower-tier ITF events, with Jon Wertheim and other commentators saying the episode harmed the tournament's integrity and could draw scrutiny onto the ITF.
79 Articles
79 Articles
The world of tennis has been shocked these days by a viral image in an ITF tournament held in Nairobi, Kenya. It was a W35, a circuit that often competes with young and promising tennis players who are just a step away from jumping into professionalism. Egyptian Hajar Abdelkader participated with an invitation, and the video is demolishing. She does not know where to put herself in the rest, it is evident that she does not know how to play tenni…
ITF to review wildcard process after player’s ‘unacceptable’ performance
Jan 9 : The International Tennis Federation said on Friday the performance of a wildcard player at a women's tournament in Nairobi was "unacceptable" for a World Tennis Tour (WTT) event and that it was reviewing procedures for awarding wildcards.The comments followed a first-round match at an ITF W35 ev
Pro Tournament Let Her Play. It Did Not Go Well
They make movies about plucky underdogs who get their shot in the pros and conquer all. This is not one of those stories. Instead, this plucky underdog entered a women's tennis tournament in Nairobi and lost in spectacular fashion. The underdog was 21-year-old Egyptian Hajar Abdelkader, who—how to put...
Egyptian tennis ’player’ goes viral for all the wrong reasons
An Egyptian tennis player has gone viral after her terrible performance in Kenya which included 20 double faults. Videos of 21-year-old Hajar Abdelkader widely circulated on social media for her 37-minute 6-0, 6-0 defeat to world No. 1,026 Lorena Schaedel after managing to win only three points and looking at times as if she was unfamiliar with aspects of the sport. Abdelkader is repeatedly seen missing the ball and failing to deliver, appearing…
The Kenyan Tennis Association explains how the scandalous match of Egyptian Hajar Abdelkader could occur.
An Egyptian tennis player had received a wild card for a professional tournament. However, a video of the match raised doubts as to whether the 21-year-old had ever played tennis before. Now the associations reacted.
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