Okutoyi twin sisters face off in Rwanda Open final

Kenya’s tennis twin sisters Angella Okutoyi and Roselida Asumwa are set to contest the 2022 Rwanda Open tournament title in a thrilling family final set to take place on Sunday morning at the Ecology Tennis Club in Kigali, Rwanda.

In the tournament that started at the beginning of the week, the two 18-year-olds, christened the Kenyan Williams sisters after Serena and Venus, managed to overcome every challenge presented to them on the clay court event as they lived up to their favourite tag in the competition.

To advance to the final, the trailblazing Okutoyi, who back in July this year became the first Kenyan player to ever win a Grand Slam title when she lifted the 2022 Wimbledon Girls Doubles title alongside her Dutch partner Rose Marie Nijkamp, breezed through the knockout stages without dropping a set.

After receiving a bye in the first round, Okutoyi, who was the first seed in the event, proved too much to handle for home girl Belyse Irakoze whom she dispatched 6-0, 6-0 in the second round.

Angella Okutoyi – Tennis barrier breaker who rose from a children's orphanage to the Grand Slam

The former African Junior Champion also thumped Democratic Republic of Congo’s Nancy Aliyson Onya – the 2016 Rwanda Open winner – 6-1, 6-0 where she set up a semis tie against compatriot Cynthia Cheruto who was also unlucky to join the losers list after Okutoyi won 6-2, 6-1 to secure the championship decider.

Same as her younger sister, Asumwa, seeded second in the event and who did not drop a set in her path to the final, defeated Rwanda’s Gisele Umumarungu 6-2, 6-4 in the second round after getting a bye in the first.

Consecutive wins against Tanzania’s Martin Mao (7-5, 6-4) and Rwanda’s Olive Tuyisenge (7-6, 6-4) would ensure that Asumwa locked her place in the final against her sister.

The winner of the tournament will walk away with 2500 US Dollars.

Kenya also dominated the men’s side as 2019 champion Ismael Changawa is set to come up against compatriot Albert Njogu.