Grand Slam for Kenya's tennis star Okutoyi

Kenya's top-ranked Junior Angela Okutoyi will on 22 to 29 January 2022 feature in her first International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Grand Slam tournament outside of Africa, taking part in the Australian Open Junior Championships. 

In what will be the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Morocco-based teenage sensation has been entered in the main draw of the outdoor hardcourt tournament set for Melbourne.  

Okutoyi dreaming up debut in Junior Grand Slam competitions

Okutoyi is the only Kenyan female tennis player to reach top-100 in the rankings. Last month in Sousse, Tunisia, she bagged another first, lifting the Afeixa Under-18 championship title, the first Kenyan to achieve such a feat. 

In doing so, she dispensed top seeded Moroccan Aya El Aouni 6-3, 6-3 in the final. Aouni is on the list of 46 players in the main draw of the Melbourne event. 

“I have worked hard to get here and the plan is to post good results as that will open more doors for me. It will not be a walk in the park but I am up to the task. This is just the beginning, my target is to go up the rankings and be able to feature in the top Junior Grand Slams, Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon Open and US Open," said Okutoyi who is coached by Francis Rogoi when in the country. 

Earlier in the year, Okutoyi was named the Sports personality of the month of January following her stellar performance in Nairobi that saw her win two back-to-back ITF Junior J4 singles events in Nairobi in January. 

Okutoyi becomes first Kenya to lift Africa Junior Tennis Championship

She won 6-3 6-2 against Celine Simunyu of Ireland and beat Hungary’s Luca Udvardy 6-1, 6-4 to move to a career-high ranking of 127 globally. She also won one doubles title and took second place in another partnering with Iran’s Meshkatolzahra Safi.

Okutoyi is the youngest Kenya Open champion winning the biggest tennis event in the country in 2018 after beating three-time champion Shufaa Changawa 6-1, 7-6 in the final.Okutoyi has previously bagged the ITF Under-18 and Africa Under-14 titles too. 

Other tournaments Okutoyi has also competed in, include J5 Sfax, J3 Megrine, J3 Cairo (twice), J2 Cairo (twice), J3 Stellenbosch, J2 Stellenbosch, JA Cape Town, J2 Sousse, with her best results coming at the JB2 Sousse.

Her last tournament was the Women's 15Ks in Monastir on 5 December but retired early in the first set struggling with her shoulder and wrist.