Angella Okutoyi: African tennis champion now dreaming of Olympics glory

Freshly minted African Games women's tennis singles champion Angella Okutoyi is eyeing big things this year.

She wants to be the first Kenyan tennis player to compete at the Olympics when the 2024 Games get underway in Paris, France, from July 26 to August 11. 

The Auburn University second-year student must climb into the top 400 in the WTA Singles ranking to realise her Olympic dream. 

She is currently placed 538th in the world and fifth in Africa behind Tunisian Ons Jabeur (ninth), Egyptian Mayar Sherif (72nd), Burundian Sada Nahimana (343rd) and Egyptian Sandra Samir (474th).   

Okutoyi, who traces her roots in Butere in Kakamega County, also hopes to start competing in major Grand Slams this year or next year.

She shared with Nation Sport how it felt to beat a player ranked in the top 100 for the first time after winning the African Games title in Ghana.

“I think I look more athletic because of the schedule that I have here. We do a lot of weights and a lot of conditioning. We have good strength and conditioning here, so probably that’s why I look more athletic,” explains the talented ace, who has a career-high in singles of 532 wins in professional tennis.

Also read: Peerless Okutoyi crowned African Games champion

Okutoyi says she has individual sessions with the coaches in the mornings and then in the afternoon every day from Monday to Friday. “We either have gym or conditioning in the afternoon, so training is two hours every day or if you have individual training, that’s three hours in a day."

"If you further have conditioning or weights like an hour, you have four hours a day. That’s a typical training session in a day,” notes the 2018 and 2022 Kenya Open champion. 

Okutoyi believes going to the USA, where she is on a full tennis scholarship, has helped her. “I feel like coming to the States has helped me a lot, just changing the environment, new place, new space, meeting new people, maybe that’s why I’m improving a lot. I see them as that, so it motivates me to become better and better each day,” observes Okutoyi, who was introduced to tennis at age four by coaches Joe Karanja and her uncle Allan Atola at Loreto Convent Valley Road in Nairobi.

She says being in the USA has helped her a lot in her tennis career by meeting new people, playing matches with different players and being in a team environment. “Just everything is different here, so I feel like that has helped me as a person and also in my tennis career,” says Okutoyi, who was raised by her grandmother, Mary Omukuyia after her mother passed on while giving birth to her and her twin sister Roselida Asumwa.

"I feel like I’m practising with a variety of players, my team-mates, and each of them has different game styles, so like I’m improving different aspects which is helping my game a lot,” notes Okutoyi.

She added that she is practising with people who want to turn professional like her. “We both have the same goal which pushes each one of us to be like the best. It is just a nice environment to be in and the coaches are supportive.”

Also read: Charles Nyende: Angella Okutoyi destined to be Kenya’s biggest ever tennis star

Okutoyi did not win a medal at the 2019 African Games in Rabat, Morocco, but clinched two at the 2023 African Games in Accra. She won gold in singles after defeating Egyptians Sherif 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 in the semi-final and Lamis Alhussein 6-4, 6-2 in the final, and silver in doubles with partner Cynthia Cheruto. She could not hide her joy after the historic success.

“In 2019, I did not win any medal at all and this time I came back with two – gold and silver. It is such a special feeling. I don’t know how to describe it, like I’m just grateful and it’s all God. I had written this goal in my notebook and in my phone since last year, praying to come out with gold and qualify for the Olympics. So, this year coming out with two medals is such a big achievement for me in the African Games where the best in Africa meet and play each other. It means so much to me, so I’m grateful,” Okutoyi said after her victory in Accra last month.

Beating Mayar Sheriff, Okutoyi says, was the highlight of the tournament. 

“Playing for almost four and a half hours was the best feeling ever. That showed me that I can compete with the best, and I’m one of the best. She’s world 70 and she has played on the big stages, played with the big names, and won the W125... It was so inspiring. I don’t even know what to say. It was just one of the highlights I had,” explains Okutoyi, who after the match, didn’t know the game lasted more than four hours. “I was like "what's the time?" and I was told “Angie, it's 2pm” and I was like “what, so I played for almost five hours? And they were like, 'Yes you did'. Even after the match, I did not feel like I was tired...I don’t even have words to describe it, just happy, and this is just one step to greater things.”

Okutoyi, whose twin sister Asumwa also pursues academics on a tennis scholarship, says what worked for her at the African Games was the belief she had in herself. “I talked to someone from the Confederation of African Tennis (CAT). He came to me and was like 'Angie, believe in yourself like you are better than A-B-C-D'. He told me that after my first-round match."

She says that she knew she belonged at the top and was just as good as every person who had played in the tournament. “I’d say that worked. Just having that belief and having my team around me. They were so supportive, and I gave them a lot of thanks. They are always there for me, down, up. So, big up to Team Kenya,” says Okutoyi.

On April 2, Okutoyi shared a 17-second video recorded by Nigerian tennis player Marylove Edwards with Jabeur thanking the Tunisian for responding to her message after two years. 

Is Okutoyi, who turned 20 on January 29 this year, ready to take on any top-100 player?

“Yes, I feel I can play top-100 players. I believe in myself a lot and beating Mayar just boosted my confidence to another scale. I trust in myself a lot. I know how hard I have been working and still working, so playing them does not scare me at all. I know I have put in the work, so it is just to show my work in the matches. I know I’m playing so many matches here in the USA. It would not be hard to play players who are ranked top-100 because I know that I can play them and come out with a win, too.”

Also read: Okutoyi's Olympic dream and the conundrum in between

Winning the African Games singles title did not guarantee Okutoyi a place in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

“I feel like the African Games singles champion should qualify automatically. It is so tough for us as Africans to find opportunities, especially to reach that level or to find ourselves at the top and African Games is just one of the ways we as Africans tunaitegemea (we depend on it),” observes Okutoyi.

“It is just one winner. That is more than enough. It should be a direct entry and not need to be top 400 again. It is tough for Africans, everyone knows it is tough. We don’t have a lot of big events to boost our rankings as fast as possible compared to other countries. The African Games is our only chance.”

Okutoyi must get into the top 400 in WTA singles rankings before June 10 to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics. 

“As of now, I’m trying to see if I can play a lot of futures from this April to see if I can collect as many points as possible. I need 70 points. So, that’s my main goal as of now and even beyond that. I don’t want to reach 70 points and that is that, but to see how my ranking can go as far as possible. That’s my goal now.”

Winning gold in Accra saw the Kenyan national anthem played for the first time in 46 years in a tennis medals ceremony. “I feel like this is the first time the national anthem has been played after I won. It just felt nice. That was the best feeling ever and on a big stage like that. I was happy and being the first Kenyan to win gold in tennis since 1978 is unreal, it’s surreal, I don’t know. I just feel like history keeps following me. I just want to keep going and going and just make more history for tennis in Kenya.” 

If she qualifies for the Paris 2024 Olympics, she will add that to a list of her many firsts. She is the first Kenyan girl to win a junior Grand Slam match at the Australian Open, the first Kenyan Doubles Junior Wimbledon champion and the first Kenyan to compete in all four junior Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open). 

Also read: Okutoyi resumes Road to Paris Olympics at US tourney

Okutoyi is also the first Kenyan player to win an International Tennis Federation (ITF) W15 event during the W15 Monastir in July 2023 and the first Kenyan ever to sweep the singles and doubles titles at an ITF W25 event during the W25 Nairobi in December 2023.

“I feel like tennis is a competitive sport. Even before me, there was an African Games champion. I feel most people wanted to beat me in Ghana, so winning does not change anything. I know that everyone you are playing wants to beat you, same as me. It’s both ways. We are hungry, really hungry when we are playing. I don’t see a difference now that I’m the African Games champion. It is not going to change anything. I’d just become more popular, probably. But at the same time, I’m still the same player who wants to win, who is competitive, and hungry for more." 

She has good news for her fans. “I’m seeing myself in the major Grand Slams! That’s my goal. Hopefully, I can achieve that next year or this year. Who knows?"

"Competing at the Grand Slams is my ultimate goal. I know niko karibu (I’m near). I will just keep doing the same thing I’m doing - working hard, believing and trusting the process, yeah, no weakness,” says Okutoyi. 

Tennis Kenya Secretary General Wanjiru Mbugua, who is the Eastern Africa (Zone IV) President and one of the five CAT Vice Presidents, says Okutoyi needs a budget of between Sh12.7 million and Sh25.4m (USD100,000 and USD200,000) per year to fund her professional career. 

“For me, God comes first and everything follows. I will just keep working hard, keep doing the same thing I have been doing, and just trust in myself and the process, I shall see myself up there and staying up there,” observes Okutoyi.

With the Billie Jean King Cup Africa Group III coming back to Kenya for the second successive year in June, Okutoyi says she can’t wait for it. “For my Kenyan fans, I want them to be ready to show up and get loud for us because we are chasing the gold and we need as much support as possible.”

Okutoyi is the youngest player for Kenya at the Billie Jean King Cup after she made her debut at 14 years old in 2018.  

She was the inspiration behind Kenya's bronze medal at the Billie Jean King Cup Africa Group III last year at the Nairobi Club, where Cynthia Cheruto, Asumwa, Alicia Owegi, Melissa Mwakha and Stacy Yego were also in the mix.

Gold medallists from the list of Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe will gain promotion to Billie Jean King Cup Europe/Africa Group II in 2025.