Okutoyi climbs up the Women Tennis Association rankings

Eighteen-year-old Kenyan tennis star Angella Okutoyi has risen up the Women’s Tennis Association singles rankings, placing a career high 1145th position in the standings announced this week, with a total of eight points from three legs this year. Okutoyi gained 6 ranking points from the ITF leg in Nairobi with single points in Monastir and Egypt in August and March respectively.

This is the highest position the Kenyan has occupied, initially ranked at a career-best 1501 on August 8 this year, a 10 place jump from her previous place a week earlier on August 1 2022. Okutoyi’s latest assignment was in the W15 ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour held last week at the Karen Country Club where she and her partner Bhasin Smriti (India) came out victors in the doubles finals.

The duo on Saturday overcame opponents Balu Sharmada (India) and Leon Sebastian (USA) in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5.

Okutoyi’s latest run in the singles tournament also came in the W15 ITF Nairobi leg, where she was on Thursday last week knocked out in the first round of the twin-tournament event by Germany’s Emily Seibold by a score of 6-3, 4-6, 7-6. The first week of the tour however saw her make it to the singles finals, losing yet again to the 22 year old German in straight sets, 3-6, 2-6.

In becoming the first Kenyan to make it through to an ITF World Tennis Tour Final, Okutoyi also gained six points to her WTA tally, with 4 extra points coming from her exploits in the doubles. Prior to her withdrawal from the Monastir Women’s tennis tournament in October, She had previously featured in the US Open Junior championships, a run that had seen her participate in all the four Grand Slams in 2022.

Her biggest victory came in July, winning the Wimbledon doubles junior championship thanks to a nerve-wracking 3-6, 6-4 (11-9) victory over Canadian duo of Kayla Cross and Victoria Mboko.

Okutoyi’s partner was Rose Marie Nijkamp from the Netherlands. In amongst the J1 Repentigny doubles championship triumph in early September, Okutoyi was also nominated by SOYA in the 2022 Sports Woman of the Year awards category and bagged a scholarship at the Auburn University in Alabama.

The African junior champion is expected to earn her well-deserved rest before making the trip to the United States next year. Tunisian star Ons Jabeur leads the way for Africa in the updated standings, ranking second behind the world leader Iga Swiatek (Poland) with 5055 points.