Okutoyi wins Doubles title in second W15 tournament

Kenya’s 18-year-old tennis sensation Angella Okutoyi once again bagged another piece of silverware, but this time on home soil, as she won the Doubles title in the second edition of the W15 ITF Women's World Tennis Tour tournament held at the Karen Country Club.

Alongside her Indian partner Bhasin Smriti, the duo upstaged first-seeded Balu Sharmada (India) and Leon Sebastiani (USA) as they clinched the title following a straight set 6-3, 7-5 victory in the championship decider played on Saturday morning.

According to the statistics from the match, Okutoyi and Smriti made their break point chances count as they converted four of the seven chances they had (57%) compared to Balu and Leon who only managed to utilize one out of the five opportunities they created (20%).

Additionally, the title winners yielded the most points out of their successful first serves as they won 73% of the points compared to the other team’s 62%.

Leading up to the finale, Okutoyi had all her focus fixed on atoning for her first-round exit in the Singles, with the defeat coming just days after she made history by becoming the first Kenyan player to reach the finals of an ITF World Tennis Tour Final when she succumbed to a final defeat in the first edition held last week.

She had been left disappointed in the second edition after getting knocked out in the first round after succumbing to a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4) defeat against first-seeded Emily Seibold on Tuesday afternoon.

In the Doubles quarterfinal match staged on Friday, the pair made light work of their opponents as they only needed an hour to record a straight set 6-2, 6-4 victory over fourth-seeded Tothova Emma (Slovakia) and Yuldasheva Sevil (Uzbekistan) before receiving a walkover in the semifinal match played afterwards.