Even strong tennis players have bad streaks and painful defeats, but the case of Hajar Abdelkader stands out clearly against the background of the entire history of world tennis.

The African looked like she was picking up a racket for the first time. For some, a moment of fame is enough to go down in history. Hajar managed it in 38 minutes of shame.

Furious destruction

The ITF W35 tournament in Nairobi is of great importance for the Kenya Tennis Federation. First of all, it is carried out to promote local female athletes. In qualifying, three girls from this country received a wild card, although none of them could make it into the main draw.

But tickets from the organizers in the main tournament were distributed according to a very murky scheme. The presence of 21-year-old Egyptian Hajar Abdelkader in the net raised especially many questions. Before Nairobi, the girl had not played a single match under the auspices of the ITF, although her profile on the official website of the federation states that she has been playing tennis since she was 14 years old.

Even more questions arose after her debut. It took only 38 minutes for her opponent, the German Lorena Schadel, ranked 1036th in the WTA rankings, to beat the Egyptian in two games – 6:0, 6:0. And it would be fine if Hadjar were at least some competition, but no. She managed to make 20 double faults during the match, and won only three rallies! Two of them came from double errors by Schadel, and once again the German sent the ball into touch.

To finally understand the level of absurdity, it is worth discussing Abdelkader’s outfit separately. The girl came out onto the court in leggings, so she had nowhere to put the second ball. After each serve, she ran around the court in search of the ball, because ballboys of this kind are not provided at tournaments.

Photo: © StockPlanets / E+ / Gettyimages.ru

“You have to start somewhere”

Footage of the Egyptian woman’s incredible level of skill instantly went viral on the Internet, and Abdelkader gained dubious popularity. On social networks, commentators compete in wit.

— How did she even manage to get a wild card into the main draw? Usually you see such players in the qualifying rounds, and they get there because there are not enough participants in the qualifications, @TennisLegende naturally asks.

— Giving a wild card to a person who doesn’t even know how to hold a racket — what a pity! – @Mr_Milla is disappointed.

— Where did the three points come from? Those 38 minutes were too damn long for her opponent. My grandmother can play like that too,” @Petr_Knapek11 sneers. @Adaamissss

Photo: © Tennis Federation of the Republic of Kenya

“The participant probably disappeared, and that’s why they called the cleaning lady from the hotel,” @Adaamissss gives a humorous version of what happened.

– What is this, a New Year’s joke? — @jajsemTerry is interested.

“This is a real massacre,” jokes @JanZitnak.

— This is not uncommon at tournaments in Africa. Almost no one goes there,” says @joach46259.

— You have to start somewhere, why not with a tournament? – writes @ardisthere.