Angela Okutoyi plays a forehand shot to Nyangon Beverley of France during ITF World Tennis Tour at Nairobi Club on January 18, 2021.
| Chris Omollo | Nation Media GroupTennis
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Angela Okutoyi looks forward to Australian Open
What you need to know:
- The 2022 calendar will kick off with the Nairobi International Junior Circuit next month.
- And with the 2022 Calendar already set to kick off with the Nairobi International Junior Circuit in January, closely followed by the ITF East African Zonal and the Kenya International Junior Circuit all until mid-February, Tennis Kenya hopes to double 2021’s performance.
Teen sensation Angela Okutoyi climbing up the ladder to position 97 in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior rankings was the highlight of Kenya’s tennis scene in 2021.
The 17-year-old in November upset top seed Aya El Aouni, who is ranked 78th, in the singles final of the 2021 Africa Junior Under-18 Championships in Sousse, Tunisia. Okutoyi beat El Aouni 6-3, 6-3 to win the prestigious African event and become the first Kenyan to clinch the junior title.
Okutoyi, who is currently based at the ITF Academy in Morocco, had her previous career-high ranking of position 127 on February 1 after dominating two J4 Nairobi events in January at Nairobi Club.
This year alone, the right-handed player competed in 13 ITF Junior tournaments in Tunisia, Egypt and South Africa. She won 18 matches on clay courts and 11 on the hard courts and lost 10.
“The year started off a bit shaky, but picked up after the J4 tournaments. I’m glad that I achieved my goal of getting to the top 100 ranking. Next year, I hope to move to the top 50 ranking or enter the top 30 at the end of the next year and play in the four Grand Slams in the juniors category - the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon Open and US Open. I hope to make the quarter-finals,” she said.
Okutoyi looks up to former Kenyan great Paul Wekesa. As a senior player, Wekesa won three doubles titles, achieved a career-high singles ranking of position 100 and reached two tour level quarter-finals at Auckland in 1989 and Seoul in 1995.
Okutoyi has set her sights on her first ITF Junior Grand Slam tournament - the Australian Open Junior Championships slated for January 22-29 next month in Melbourne. She is in the main draw.
On the other hand, Kenya’s hopes of making the 2022 World Group 2 play-offs were shattered in August after losing 2-1 to Benin in the semi-finals of the Davis Cup Africa Group 3 tournament held at the Smash Sporting Club in Cairo, Egypt. Top seed Ismael Changawa registered Kenya’s only win after beating Delmas N’tcha in two close sets.
With the loss, Kenya remains in the Davis Cup Africa Group 3 level and will try their luck next year, while Benin advance to the World Group play-offs.
In 2019, Kenya stromed the 2020 World Group play-offs alongside Tunisia in the semi-finals held at Nairobi Club. However, they were eliminated by Indonesia in the play-offs during their best-of-five- matches and lost the opportunity to play at the Euro/Africa Group 2 tournament.
The last time Kenya qualified for Euro/Africa Group 2 was in 1992 where they lost in the semi-finals, one match shy of the World Group 1 play-offs.
In October, junior girls retained the title at the ITF/CAT East African 12 and under teams' competition in Uganda. Kenya got bronze in the boys’ contest.
Tennis Kenya’s administrative officer Nancy Nduku said individual players rather than teams stood out in 2021, adding that Okutoyi made them proud.
The 2022 calendar will kick off with the Nairobi International Junior Circuit next month.
And with the 2022 Calendar already set to kick off with the Nairobi International Junior Circuit in January, closely followed by the ITF East African Zonal and the Kenya International Junior Circuit all until mid-February, Tennis Kenya hopes to double 2021’s performance.
