Okutoyi, Rose storm into Wimbledon junior doubles semis

Kenya's Angella Okutoyi and Dutchwoman Rose Marie Nijkamp on Thursday qualified for the Doubles semifinals of the prestigious Junior Championships in Wimbledon.

They defeated the partnership of Czech nationals Linda Klimovicova and Dominika Salkova after coming from one set down 7-6, 6-4 (11-9) in their quarterfinal match which lasted one hour and 34 minutes at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Okutoyi, who wrote history by being the first woman from Kenya to reach the third round at Australian Open juniors in January this year, served the winning ace.

"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," said Okutoyi.

She says it feels good to partner with Rose. "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 2018 Kenya Open champion.

The 2021 Africa under-18 winner said for the semifinals, they hope for the best. "We really want to win it and we're going there to give our best, take our chances as much as possible and we will see what happens," says the 18-year-old, who is competing in all the four Junior Grand Slams for the first time.

She was at the Roland Garros in France last month. Okutoyi is also lined up for US Open juniors in September this year.

In the first round of Doubles in Wimbledon, Okutoyi/Nijkamp saw off Denislava Glushkova (Bulgaria)/Hayu Kinoshita (Japan) 6-2, 6-3.

The right-hander Okutoyi, who occupies position 61 on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior ranking, began her Wimbledon with an early exit in Singles at the hands of 38th-ranked Canadian Mia Kupres.