A wildcard entry at a professional tennis tournament in Kenya has ignited a firestorm of criticism and a potential integrity investigation after a performance described as "disrespect to the sport."
A Match of Record-Low Statistics
Unranked Egyptian player Hajar Abdelkader, aged 21, was handed a main draw wildcard for the W35 Nairobi event at the Parklands Sports Club. Her opening round match against Germany's Lorena Schaedel on the clay courts lasted a mere 37 minutes and resulted in a statistical nightmare.
Abdelkader managed to win just three points in the entire contest. Remarkably, two of those points came from double faults by her opponent, with only a single point earned from her own play when a Schaedel backhand return sailed long.
Service Struggles Dominate Disastrous Display
The core of the debacle was Abdelkader's catastrophic serve. She committed a staggering 20 double faults from just 22 total points played in the match. Her first-serve percentage was a microscopic 8.3%, barely improving to 9.1% on second serves.
She double-faulted on all but four of her service attempts, including two devastating runs: the first nine points of the match and the final seven points consecutively. In stark contrast, her opponent Schaedel posted a dominant 92.6% first-serve percentage and fired 13 aces.
Outrage and Calls for Investigation
The incident quickly spread on social media, with an eight-second video clip on X surpassing a million views. The performance drew immediate and fierce condemnation from within the tennis community.
Randy Walker, director of the Vero Beach Futures tournament, was unequivocal in his response. "This doesn't even need to be investigated. It's just a straight up disrespect to the integrity of the sport and the promoter needs to be replaced immediately and kicked out of the sport," he stated online.
He directly tagged the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) in a follow-up post, urging them to scrutinise the circumstances behind the wildcard award. The tournament, which offers a total prize fund of $30,000 (approximately £22,240), is now under an uncomfortable spotlight.
Despite reportedly beginning tennis at age 14, Abdelkader appears to have no prior professional match history on record, raising serious questions about the wildcard selection process for the event. Schaedel progressed to face seventh seed Ren Yufei in the next round.
