Tennis Kenya Acknowledges Mistakes After Wildcard Controversy

Fri Jan 09 2026 15:14:54 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Tournament officials admit an amateur player should not have participated in a professional match after her performance attracted widespread criticism.

In a recent professional women's tennis tournament in Nairobi, organizers recognize that wildcard player Hajar Abdelkader should not have been permitted to compete due to her poor performance, where she lost 6-0, 6-0 and served 20 double faults. Tennis Kenya stated that the decision was made to maintain player representation but acknowledged that such a situation should not occur again.

Tennis Kenya Acknowledges Mistakes After Wildcard Controversy

The organizers of a professional women's tournament which has gained notoriety on social media due to a wildcard player's poor performance have recognized that she should not have been allowed to play.

Egyptian Hajar Abdelkader, 21, faced a crushing defeat, losing 6-0, 6-0, and serving an astounding 20 double faults during her first-round match in Nairobi. Spectators were left questioning whether she had ever participated in a tennis match before, as she won only three points throughout the 37-minute contest, two of which were double faults from her opponent, Lorena Schaedel.

This match was part of an International Tennis Federation (ITF) W35 tournament, organized by Tennis Kenya, the governing body for tennis in the country. Following extensive scrutiny of the event, Tennis Kenya reached out to both Abdelkader and Schaedel to offer its support regarding the nature of the match's coverage.

Tennis Kenya explained that Abdelkader secured her entry into the tournament through a wildcard application, granted after another player withdrew. The organization expressed regret over the decision, stating that in hindsight, she should not have been allowed to compete to maintain the tournament's integrity.

“The federation has taken note of this experience and will ensure that such an extremely rare occurrence never happens again,” they asserted, reaffirming their commitment to fair play and the ongoing development of tennis in Kenya and beyond.

The Egyptian Tennis Federation clarified that Abdelkader was never registered as an Egyptian player and had not entered the tournament on behalf of Egypt. Dia Nabil Loutfy, the technical director, highlighted that she was previously residing in Kenya and had participated in the ITF event through a wildcard issued by the Kenyan Tennis Federation. He added that the Egyptian Tennis Federation had no involvement in this matter.