Patrick Mouratoglou gives his verdict on viral tennis match, ‘she didn’t know how to play’
Less than two weeks into 2026, we already have a strong contender for ‘worst match of the year’.
An ITF W35 event in Nairobi, Kenya, played host to one of the most watched matches of 2026 so far.
Egypt’s Hajar Abdelkader lost to Germany’s Lorena Schaedel 6-0, 6-0, winning just three points.
The match was hard to watch at times, as Abdelkader clearly had little to no tennis experience.
Coaching legend Patrick Mouratoglou struggled through the match too, and has now given his verdict on Abdelkader’s performance.
Patrick Mouratoglou found Hajar Abdelkader’s performance ‘very funny’Posting on Instagram, Mouratoglou shared his thoughts on the worst match of 2026.
“A lot of you have seen that video about this girl who had a wild card in an ITF tournament and played, and obviously she didn’t know how to play tennis,” he said.
“I mean, it was very funny.
“The first question that comes to my mind is, Why did she do that? Why did she ask for the wild card?
“Was it for the fame?
“I doubt it, because everybody was making fun of her.
“Was it for the money?
“If you lose in the first round in a $30,000, you don’t get any money, so not for the money…
“Is it just for the experience? To know what it feels like to play a professional.
“I mean, that’s the only explanation that I can find.”
Mouratoglou believes that Abdelkader’s unsuccessful venture into competitive tennis underlined just how difficult the sport is to master.
“It just shows to me how difficult and complex this game is,” he said.
“If you don’t master the technique, the movement, the tactics, you basically cannot play at all.
“It takes a lot of time, a lot of work to develop the tools to start to really have fun in tennis.
“That’s a strength, and also a weakness. It’s a strength because you need to deserve it, and you need to put in the work to be able to play tennis.
“Second, it’s a weakness, because in other sports you can have fun straight away, even without technique.
“A lot of people prefer that option. Going to sports that are easy, rather than developing for the future, which is the case when you start playing tennis.”
Who is Hajar Abdelkader?There is very limited information available about Egypt’s Abdelkader.
According to the ITF’s official website, Abdelkader is 21 years old and started playing tennis when she was 14.
Her defeat to Schaedel is her only match on record.
It’s unlikely that she will be given another wild card anytime soon, given the reaction to her defeat in Kenya.
