The tennis world was gripped by the story of Hajar Abdelkader last week…

Egypt’s Abdelkader was awarded a wild card into an ITF W35 event in Kenya, and the rest was history.

As it turns out, Abdelkader didn’t really know how to play tennis at all and won just three points in a 6-0, 6-0 defeat.

Clips of the match went viral, as fans struggled to understand how she was allowed to take part.

American WTA star, Jessica Pegula, has now weighed in with her thoughts on the match, explaining why she wouldn’t have liked to play Abdelkader.

During the latest episode of ‘The Player’s Box Podcast‘, Pegula commented on the bizarre match.

“That video went viral very quickly,” she said.

“The woman could not play tennis.”

Madison Keys was also keen to share her thoughts.

“She didn’t even know how to keep score, how to serve,” said Keys.

“She won three points, but it took 38 minutes. Someone was saying it took 38 minutes because she wouldn’t serve with two balls.

“So she would miss a serve, walk to the back fence, grab another ball, come back, miss another serve, it was just so drawn out.

“But it was suspect.”

Pegula enjoyed the spectacle, but couldn’t quite believe she managed to win any points at all.

“It was quite entertaining,” she said.

“She could not play tennis; it looked like she had never picked up a racket in her life, and she’s playing in a professional tournament.

“It took her 38 minutes to lose 6-0, 6-0; she won three points. I don’t even know how she won three points.”

“Two double faults and one error,” added Keys.

“There we go!” said Pegula.

“But obviously there’s no ball kids, I did watch some of it, it took so long. I would’ve been losing my mind.

“She would take forever to serve, then miss the serve.

“The girl would have to hit a second ball, because she wouldn’t hold two balls.

“She wasn’t standing in the right spots. It was so weird.”

Pegula then suggested she, Keys, Jennifer Brady, and Desirae Krawczyk, would have beaten Abdelkader left-handed.

“I would have beaten her left-handed, all of us would have beaten her lefty,” she said.

“That woman was so bad.”

Pegula will hope that her game doesn’t resemble Abdelkader’s when she begins her Australian Open campaign…

The 31-year-old has never reached the final or the semifinals of the Australian Open.

She has, however, played three quarterfinals Down Under.

Between 2021 and 2023, Pegula reached three consecutive quarterfinals, but fell short on all three occasions.

Pegula lost to Brady in 2021, to Ash Barty in 2022, and to Victoria Azarenka in 2023.

Only time will tell if she can go a step further in 2026.

The 2026 Australian Open begins on Sunday, January 18.