Brave Okutoyi falls to Seibold in W15 final

Angella Okutoyi

Kenya's Angella Okutoyi poses with her title after finishing second in the W15 Nairobi World Tennis Tour at Karen Country Club in Nairobi on November 20, 2022.

Photo credit: Sila Kiplagat | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Before the ongoing W15 Nairobi, Okutoyi had never gone past second round in eight W15 tournaments since her debut in Nairobi in August 2019.
  • Okutoyi, who has a career-high of 1501 in WTA Singles Rankings, will now shift her focus to the second W15 Nairobi tournament slated for November 22-28 at the same venue.

Kenya's Angella Okutoyi went down fighting 6-3, 6-2 to top seed Emily Seibold in the final of W15 Nairobi World Tennis Tour at Karen Country Club in Nairobi on Sunday.

The Wimbledon Doubles Junior champion, who was awarded a three-year membership at Karen Country Club in August this year, was mainly let down by hitting the ball on the net as the German capitalised.

The final attracted a sizeable turn out of fans among them National Olympic Committee of Kenya president Paul Tergat.

Enroute to the final, Okutoyi,18, defeated Indian qualifier Sharanya Shetty 6-0, 6-0, eighth-seeded Sevil Yuldasheva (Uzbekistan) 6-4, 6-4, and third-seed Emma Tothova from Slovakia 6-1, 6-4 and Romeo.  

On her part, Seibold dumped out Israeli qualifier Adi Bitton 6-1, 6-4, Macedonian Magdalena Stoilkovska 6-2, 6-2, fifth-seed Alexandra Iordache from Romania 7-6, 7-6, and American Sabastiani Leon, who was seeded fourth, 6-2, 6-2 in that order.

Before the ongoing W15 Nairobi, Okutoyi had never gone past second round in eight W15 tournaments since her debut in Nairobi in August 2019.

Okutoyi, who has a career-high of 1501 in WTA Singles Rankings, will now shift her focus to the second W15 Nairobi tournament slated for November 22-28 at the same venue.