History as Angella Okutoyi crowned Wimbledon junior doubles champion
Kenya's Angella Okutoyi (left) and Netherlands' Rose Marie Nijkamp celebrate with the trophy after winning the final of Wimbledon Open doubles Junior Championships at the grass courts of All England Lawn Tennis Club on July 9, 2022.
What you need to know:
- Okutoyi and her partner Rose Marie Nijkamp from the Netherlands beat Canadians Kayla Cross and Victoria Mboko 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 in the final of Wimbledon Open doubles Junior Championships at the grass courts of All England Lawn Tennis Club
- Okutoyi and Nijkamp, who stunned third-seeds Lucija Ciric Bagaric (Croatia)/Nikola Daubnerova (Slovakia) 6-3, 6-4 on Friday, started the final on wrong-footing as they lost the first set 6-3 against the Canadians
- They wrapped up the famous win with an 11-9 victory in the tiebreaker against the fourth-seeded Canadians who had upset the top-seeds Nikola Bartunkova (Czech)/Celine Naef (Switzerland) 6-4, 6-4 in semi-finals on Friday
Tennis sensation Angella Okutoyi Saturday became the first Kenyan to be crowned champion at a Grand Slam event.
Okutoyi and her partner Rose Marie Nijkamp from the Netherlands beat Canadians Kayla Cross and Victoria Mboko 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 in the final of Wimbledon Open doubles Junior Championships at the grass courts of All England Lawn Tennis Club.
When Okutoyi exited the Singles category at the Junior Championships at Wimbledon in the first round, it seemed all was lost.
But, a good luck message from Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) No.1 player Iga Swiatek thereafter turned out to be the inspiration Okutoyi needed to become Kenya’s only Grand Slam winner.
And on Saturday, Okutoyi and Nijkamp produced a world class performance in the final to stop the Canadian pair.
“Iga (Swiatek) told me good luck ahead of my first Doubles match at Wimbledon. It motivated me even though I had just lost in Singles. I tried to make that ‘good luck’ a positive thing for my Doubles matches,” Okutoyi told Nation Sport.
Kenya's Angella Okutoyi (left) and Netherlands' Rose Marie Nijkamp are all smiles after winning the final of Wimbledon Open doubles Junior Championships at the grass courts of All England Lawn Tennis Club on July 9, 2022.
Okutoyi and Nijkamp, who stunned third-seeds Lucija Ciric Bagaric (Croatia)/Nikola Daubnerova (Slovakia) 6-3, 6-4 on Friday, started the final on wrong-footing as they lost the first set 6-3 against the Canadians. However, they recovered in the second set, winning it 6-4 and never looked back.
They wrapped up the famous win with an 11-9 victory in the tiebreaker against the fourth-seeded Canadians who had upset the top-seeds Nikola Bartunkova (Czech)/Celine Naef (Switzerland) 6-4, 6-4 in semi-finals on Friday. The final showdown lasted one hour and 14 minutes.
From 2-1 down, Okutoyi/Nijkamp bagged the first set 6-3 in 27 minutes. Their opponents looked headed to turn tables in the second set after leading 2-0, but the Kenyan-Dutch pair leveled at 4-4 before wrapping up the famous victory 6-4 in 45 minutes.
Heading into the semi-finals, Okutoyi-Nijkamp pair were the underdogs, given by sports data company SofaScore a 22.37 percent winning chance against 77.63 for the third-seeds.
The Doubles final was Okutoyi’s second in eight tournaments since J2 Sousse in Tunisia in November 2021.
On the way to the final in Wimbledon, Okutoyi/Nijkamp swept aside Georgia Pedone (Italy)/Kaitlin Quevedo (USA) 6-4, 6-4, Denislava Glushkova (Bulgaria)/Hayu Kinoshita (Japan) 6-2, 6-3, Czech nationals Linda Klimovicova and Dominika Salkova 6-7, 6-4, 11-9 in the first three rounds.
Third-seeded Lucija Ciric Bagaric (Croatia)/Nikola Daubnerova (Slovakia) went past Belgians Amelie Van Impe and Amelie Waligora 1-6, 7-5, 10-3, Yu-Yun Li (Taipei)/Sara Saito (Japan) and Sayaka Ishii (Japan)/Lanlana Tararudee (Thailand) 6-2, 7-6.
Apart from Okutoyi, other Kenyans who have competed at Wimbledon are Christian Vitulli and Paul Wekesa. Vitulli reached Boys Doubles quarter-finals in 2006, while Wekesa was eliminated in Men’s Singles first round in 1996.
Okutoyi, who made history by reaching the third round at the Australian Open Juniors in January and has also competed at the Roland Garros, is set to return to the country on Monday.
Placed at 61st on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior rankings, the 18-year-old is also expected to compete at the US Open juniors in September this year.
