Angella Okutoyi of Kenya swore that her first professional victory will not be her last after topping the podium and clinching her first ITF World Tennis Tour title at W15 Monastir.
Okutoyi, a wild card for the Tunisian event, breezed through the draw, requiring only three sets once – against Anastasia Abbagnato of Italy in the quarter-finals – before defeating Isabella Harvison of the United States in the final.
In doing so, the 19-year-old became the first Kenyan player man or woman to win a professional singles event on the ITF World Tennis Tour, and the first from her country since Paul Wekesa in 1994.
Okutoyi’s narrative is tremendously strong and should be recounted as frequently as possible, especially as she continues to rise up the player pathway and make a nation and indeed a continent – extremely proud.
After all, the adolescent and her twin sister, Roselida Asumwa, were reared by their grandmother, Mary, after their mother died in childbirth in 2004. Life was difficult, as an excerpt from Okutoyi’s interview in the spring 2022 issue of ITFWorld shows.
The ITF’s Junior Tennis Initiative, a crucial development program that offers opportunities for kids all over the world to take up a racket for the first time, provided one of Okutoyi’s first interactions with tennis.
Okutoyi made history at the 2022 Australian Open by becoming the first Kenyan girl to record a Junior Grand Slam match win thanks to ongoing support from the ITF and Tennis Kenya.
She later paired up with Rose Nijkamp to win the girls’ doubles competition at the Junior Championships at Wimbledon in July 2022 as a member of the Grand Slam Player Development Program/ITF Touring Team.
As Okutoyi continues to work hard and progress in her profession, her victory at W15 Monastir is yet another important and arguably the most important milestone in her journey.