Angella Okutoyi Storms Into Wimbledon Doubles Final

Angella Okutoyi
Angella Okutoyi in action in a past tennis match
Standard Media

Teenage tennis sensation Angela Okutoyi made history on Friday, July 8, evening by becoming the first Kenyan woman to qualify for a Wimbledon final.

The 18-year-old who was playing alongside Dutch international Rose Marie Nijkamp in the junior doubles tournament stormed into the final of the prestigious tournament thanks to a straight-sets win of (6-3, 6-4) over Lucija Ciric Bagaric and Nikola Daubnerova.

Okutoyi and her partner started the second set slowly going down 1-0 in the first few minutes before producing a brilliant comeback to win 6-4.

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They hammered the Czech Republic duo of Dominika Salkova and Linda Klimovicova (7-6, 6-4) on Wednesday to proceed to the semi-final. The Kenyan gem served the match-winning ace in that game.

Speaking after their semifinal triumph, Okutoyi heaped praise on her Dutch partner.

“The match was interesting but not easy at all. However, my partner and I really fought through.

"We were losing it but we kept calm and strong and that's how we got the win," she lauded her partner.

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"She's good. I mean we've good connection when we're playing and I like that we bond so well and play quite good together,” added the Mbagathi Primary School alumni.

Should Okutoyi and her partner win the final on Saturday, August 8, she will become the first Kenyan teenager to win a Wimbledon doubles junior title. 

The 2018 Kenya Open winner is expected to feature at the 2020 US Open Juniors Tournament later this year. 

Earlier this year, Okutoyi became the first Kenyan woman to progress to the third round of the Australian Open Juniors Tournament.

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