Okutoyi and Higashitani storm W25 doubles final
Kenya's Angella Okutoyi celebrates a point against Lu Jia-Jing of China during their ITF Women World Tennis Tour second round singles match on December 13, 2023 at Karen Country Club.
What you need to know:
- The pair outclassed Stefanie Auer (Austria)/Sophie Luescher (Switzerland).
- Okutoyi/Higashitani fought hard in the first set, coming from 4-1 games down to level at 4-4, 5-5 and 6-6 before wrapping it up 7-6.
Kenyan star Angella Okutoyi and partner Nagomi Higashitani are a heartbeat away from being crowned doubles champions at the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour (W25) tournament at the Karen Country Club, Nairobi.
History-maker Okutoyi - the Kenya Open 2018 and 2022 champion - and Japanese partner Higashitani - shocked third seeds Jessie Aney (USA)/Lena Papadakis (Germany) 7-6, 6-4 in the first semi-final on the clay courts of Karen Country Club.
The pair outclassed Stefanie Auer (Austria)/Sophie Luescher (Switzerland) 6-4, 6-2 and second seeds Maria Fernanda Herazo Gonzalez (Colombia)/Ksenia Laskutova 7-6, 7-5 in the first two rounds before adding Aney/Papadakis on the list of casualties after chalking up most of their points from first serves.
To lay their hands on the winning trophy, they need to go past the winner between fourth-seeded Martina Colmegna (Italy)/Sada Nahimana (Burundi) and top seeds Fanny Ostlund (Sweden)/Valeriya Strakhova (Ukraine), who play their semi-final on Saturday.
Okutoyi/Higashitani fought hard in the first set, coming from 4-1 games down to level at 4-4, 5-5 and 6-6 before wrapping it up 7-6.
Leading by one set, the duo became more determined in the second set, which they deservedly won 6-4. Okutoyi/Hagoshitani enjoyed a 3-1 lead in the second set.
Although Aney/Papadakis threatened to spoil the party after levelling at 3-3 and 4-4, Okutoyi and Higashitani managed to stay focused to bag the set 6-4 and the match in one hour and 33 minutes for the famous win.
This is the first-ever final for Karen Country Club member Okutoyi, 19, in a W25 tournament after reaching the second round in singles at the W25 Florence in the USA.
The win came as a relief for Okutoyi, who exited the singles in the second round after losing to 34-year-old Chinese Jia-Jing Lu 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday.
The 2022 Wimbledon Junior doubles champion Okutoyi, who is the first Kenyan player – man or woman – to win a professional singles event (W15 Monastir in July 2023) since Paul Wekesa achieved the feat at Andorra Challenger in 1994, was the only Kenyan player remaining in the doubles draw after Cynthia Wanjala, Alicia Owegi, Roselida Asumwa and Faith Urasa bowed out in the round of 16.
The action had been interrupted by rain on Thursday.
In singles matches held on Friday, seventh-seed Emeline Darton (France) upset second-seeded Sada Nahimana (Burundi) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, while top-seed Strakhova (Ukraine) and eighth-seed Emma Lene (France) was interrupted by darkness with scores at 6-6 in the first set.
