Okutoyi wins doubles title in Tunisia tourney

Africa Games champion, Angella Okutoyi of Kenya, playing alongside Egypt’s Merna Refaat, has won the doubles title in W15 Monastir tournament in Tunisia.

Okutoyi and Refaat defeated the Chinese duo of Yi Liu/Jiayu Xu 6-2, 6-2 on the hard courts of Hotel Skanes Family Monastir in Tunisia yesterday.

Fourth-seeded Okutoyi and Refaat went into the final having caused a major upset by seeing off top seeds Zeel Desai (India)/Daria Khomutsianskaya (Belarus) 6-3, 6-1 in the semi-finals in 58 minutes on Friday evening.

The Chinese pair defeated Alyssa Reguer (France)/Arlinda Rushiti (Kosovo) 6-1, 6-3, in the other last four match.

The W15 is the lowest tier of women’s pro tennis.

Okutoyi from Auburn University in the USA is warming up for make-or-break tournaments in the Tunisian city of La Marsa beginning next week as she seeks to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

In the final, Okutoyi and Refaat dominated in serves and won four of six break points compared to Liu/Xu, who did not win at break point five times. Okutoyi/Refaat won all eight games when serving and were also good in receiver points.

It is Okutoyi’s second W15 Monastir doubles win after clinching her first with French partner Beverley Nyangom on July 16, 2023.

En route to her second doubles win in Monastir, Okutoyi/Refaat swept aside Jiaying He/Ying Xhang (China) 6-2, 2-6, 10-7 in the first round and then earned a walkover in the quarter-final against Onyu Choi (South Korea)/Bianca Compuesto (Australia) before tossing out Desai/ Khomutsianskaya in semi-finals.

Okutoyi, who will be leading Kenya's Billie Jean King Cup Africa Group III at the Nairobi Club from June 10-16, did not compete in singles in Monastir where fellow Kenyan Cynthia Cheruto got knocked out 6-2, 6-1 by Daria Kudashova from Russia in the first round.

W15 doubles winners get 15 world ranking points and losing finalists 10, as well as prize money of Sh127,015 and Sh68,495, respectively.

Okutoyi, who became the first Kenyan woman to win a women's pro tournament singles title during the W15 Monastir tournament on July 30, 2023, which was also her first professional title, now shifts focus to W35 La Marsa slated for May 27 to June 2 and W50 La Marsa scheduled for June 3-9 where she will be competing in singles while hoping to collect crucial points to get into the top-400 to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

She is currently ranked 502 globally with 109 points in singles, meaning she needs 50 points from the two tournaments to get into top-400 before June 10 deadline.