Okutoyi out to improve ITF ranking in South Africa

Kenya’s tennis queen Angela Okutoyi departs to South Africa on Wednesday to continue hunting for a top-100 place in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tour Junior rankings.

She will compete in three tournaments namely J3 Stellenbosch (October 11-15), J2 Stellenbosch (October 18-22) and JA Cape Town (October 25-30).

These tournaments could determine whether she comes close to her top-100 target before the year ends.

The 17-year-old dropped one spot to 158 on Monday in the latest rankings. Her career-high ranking of 127 was achieved after winning 10 straight matches in two J4 tournaments held in Nairobi in January.

“I have dropped a little from my career-high ranking because of not playing tournaments in March and April. I’m happy I got the chance to do so in Egypt (between August 16 and September 3) which I believe helped me to push up my ranking to 158,” said Okutoyi during her second-last training session at Nairobi Club on Monday.

The right-handed Okutoyi started the year 2021 ranked 186th, rose 59 places after her triumph in Nairobi before dropping from 127th to 198th because of lack of tournaments.

Okutoyi returned to top-160 after some great performances in August in Egypt. She reached the quarter-final stage in J3 Cairo (August 16-20), semi-final phase in J3 Cairo (August 23-27) and quarter-finals in J2 Cairo (August 30-September 3).

“The Egypt experience was quite good. We all know how tough opponents and tournaments from North Africa are. They were not easy. I'm happy that I got to play some competitive matches. Each opponent I met provided me with good competition. I’m happy I learned something positive from Egypt and got some good points. I don’t think I had an easy match in Egypt but I made some matches easier for myself. My toughest match was in the second tournament against Jermine Sherif from Egypt which I won (6-4, 6-3).”  

Okutoyi noted that she did not travel much in March and April because of coronavirus.

"Getting visas was also tough. That’s when my ranking went down. I’m ready to go and play my best in South Africa,” she said.

The teenager still harbours ambitions of competing in Grand Slams.

“I believe my dream is achievable. What I need most is to get supported financially. It’s not that I don’t get support but it’s not enough. With support everything is possible. My dream is to play in a Grand Slam. God willing, next year I will be playing the four major Grand Slams (Australia, France, Britain and the US).”

At 158 in the ITF Junior rankings, Okutoyi is the only Kenyan female player inside the top-1,500 on the 3,000-player list.

Alicia Owegi is second in Kenya at position 1,512 globally after dropping 21 places in the latest ranking.

Okutoyi’s twin sister Roselida Asumwa is ranked third in the country and 1,590 worldwide after descending 13 places.

“The good side of being ranked in the top-100s is to be an example to those who don’t have good ranking, to motivate them to also do great. We want to see more Kenyans in the top-100s, not just one or two.”

In order to keep alive her dream of competing in Grand Slams, Okutoyi’s coach Francis Rogoi says she must end the year in top-100. “She’s been preparing well in Nairobi for three weeks. She is going to South Africa for Grade 3, 2 and A tournament which is more of a Grand Slam event. Okutoyi has been practising for between five and six hours a day on the hard courts which she will play on in South Africa.

"Moving forward, it looks very positive for her. In South Africa, she will even try to see if she can enter the main draw of the upcoming Mexico and USA tournaments later this year. If she does well in South Africa, USA and Mexico, I think her dream of playing in a major Grand Slam will become true. She needs to reach semi-finals in these tournaments to get into top-100 before the year ends. This will guarantee her a promising year in 2022,” said Rogoi.

Okutoyi, the 2018 Kenya Open champion, will wrap up her preparations in Nairobi on Tuesday. The ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors is for players aged 18 and under. It gives them the opportunity to travel the world and develop their talent.

According to ITF, it features over 650 tournaments in 140 countries. “The Tour sees players compete across six levels of tournament – from JA (which includes the junior Grand Slams) through to J1, J2, J3, J4 and J5 (the lowest grade). The ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors provides a launch pad for the best players to go on and achieve success in the professional game.”