A worldwide sporting scandal was experienced in tennis during the W35 in Nairobi, Kenya, where Egyptian participant Hajar Abdelkader, who was invited to the tournament without even mastering the most basic aspects of tennis, went viral thanks to some videos on social networks.
The controversy came after the disastrous defeat at the hands of the WTA’s world No. 1,026.
Who is Hajar Abdelkader and how did she get into the W35 in Nairobi?
The 21-year-old Egyptian tennis player Hajar Abdelkader has just become famous around the world after participating in the ITF W35 tennis tournament in Nairobi, Kenya, a professional women’s tennis event that distributes points and prize money for the top positions
The young tennis player entered the main draw of the tournament through a wild card, that is, a special invitation without having a ranking; with the invitation, it was enough to be able to participate in the event and be noticed for her game.
In her first match as a professional, Hajar faced Germany’s Lorena Schaedel, ranked around 1,026 in the WTA rankings. In the videos that quickly went viral around the globe, it can be seen how the “tennis player” could not even serve correctly to her opponent, which triggered a series of mockery and criticism on social networks, as well as disgust and questions about how this player came to be invited to a professional event.
The tennis match in Kenya that sparked debate
Abdelkader ended up being defeated by the German 6-0, 6-0, where the Egyptian tennis player only managed to score three points, all of which were errors by the opponent. The Egyptian tennis player committed 20 double faults and at several moments she looked confused on the court, with many difficulties in performing basic serves and even in placing herself on the correct side to serve or receive.
The fact that a player with so little experience is participating in a professional tennis tournament caused outrage on social media as internet users set out to find out more about the tennis player, where it was discovered that there is no record of the player having a WTA ranking, no social profiles or biographical information detailing her experience in professional tennis, which only raises more questions about how she got into the tournament.
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