Pro Tennis Player ‘Unaware Where to Serve From’ as Bizarre Footage Goes Viral

A wildcard entry into a recent professional tennis tournament has gone viral online in footage showing she had forgotten how to play.

Tennis fans are all too familiar with the biggest names in the sport, including the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka.

However, lower down the professional rankings there are hundreds of players attempting to make a name for themselves and improve their game in various lower category tournaments.

Kenyan capital city Nairobi is just one the places to recently hold a competition for professional players, with others joining the tournament through an invitation or 'wildcard'.

But one of these wildcard players may now be wishing she hadn't accepted the spot in the competition as footage of her questionable ability has gone viral on social media.

On Tuesday, Nairobi hosted an event for the 2025 ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, with women competing on clay courts in both singles and doubles matches.

The ITF World Tennis Tour is the lowest of the three tiers of competitive tours for professional players, behind the top WTA and ATP tours, and the Challengers Tours.

Among the players taking part in the professional competition was Hajar Abdelkader, an Egyptian tennis player handed a wildcard entry despite the fact that she currently doesn't have a ranking.

And as soon as footage of Abdelkader playing in her opening match emerged online, it was clear why she's yet to break through.

In clips of the match posted on social media, it's appears that Abdelkader isn't quite sure how to play tennis, let alone compete as a professional.

The footage suggests that Abdelkader doesn't even know on which side of the court to stand to return or to serve, something backed up by the fact that she barely won three points across the whole match.

In total, the match lasted just 37 minutes, with Germany's Lorena Schaedel, who is currently ranked 1026 in the WTA Singles, winning the match in straight sets 6-0 6-0.

Across the match, Abdelkader made 20 double faults and failed to score a single point from her first serve, with two of her three points coming thanks to double faults from her opponent.

Abdelkader did manage to claim one point off her own racquet in the second set, as her return made it back Schaedel, who then mistakenly hit the spot out to make the score 40-15.

It's not clear exactly how Abdelkader managed to earn a wildcard for the event, with the late entries typically reserved for promising regional players who otherwise may have made the draw.

However, if she decided to continue her career in tennis, it may be worth some more training and maybe some coaching before entering another recorded competition.