Kenya's Angella Okutoyi celebrates winning a point against China's Yufei Ren during the W35 International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tour Championship at the Nairobi Club on January 9, 2025.
New year, new targets. That is the philosophy that Kenyan tennis prodigy Angella Okutoyi has adopted in 2025 after a year of mixed results.
Okutoyi made history when she won the African Games women's singles title in Accra in March 2024, becoming the first Kenyan to do so in 46 years.
No Kenyan - male or female - has won a medal at the quadrennial continental multi-sport event since Jane Davies-Doxzon defeated Susan Wakhungu in an all-Kenyan final in 1978.
Okutoyi also teamed up with Cynthia Wanjala Cheruto to win silver in the doubles in Accra.
Jane Davies-Doxzon and Susan Wakhungu were also Kenya's first doubles gold medallists at the 1978 African Games.
Okutoyi’s disappointment is missing the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Like many Kenyans, she had hoped that winning the African Games singles title would earn her a ticket to the 2024 Olympics, but it was not to be.
There was no direct ticket for the African Games champion as Okutoyi was required by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to be ranked in the top 400 of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings by 10 June 2024 in order to qualify.
She made a valiant attempt but was only ranked 503 on the cut-off date.
“Missing the Paris Olympics in 2024 was tough for me to take, but that disappointment is now behind me. This is a new year. I have new goals,” said Okutoyi during the recently held back-to-back W35 Nairobi tournaments at the Nairobi Club.
The third-year Bachelor of Business Administration student at Auburn University in Alabama, USA, revealed that her new goal is to break into the top 500 players in the world. At the end of last year, she was ranked 729 in the women's singles world.
“I have academic commitments and also play for my university in college tennis in the USA, so I won’t be able to compete in many professional tennis events. My target, my main target this year is definitely to defend my points. I feel like this is the year where I have to defend most of my points.
Defending and trying to surpass 500. If I was able to do it last year, I can do it the next time. So that's my main target going forward,” admitted Okutoyi whose mantra is ‘‘no weakness”.
She continued: “That's my main goal for this year because as you all know; I'm going back to school. Half of the year is going to be college matches, so I won't be able to defend or play as many Futures events as I would want.”
Okutoyi has a career best singles score of 491, which she achieved on July 29, 2024. She climbed from 729 to 678 after reaching the quarter-finals in the W35 Nairobi One tournament held from December 30 to January 5, 2024.
She lost in the final of the W35 Nairobi Two and is expected to break into the top 600.
Okutoyi says she does not want to put too much pressure on herself "that I have to achieve this particular goal".
"I won't be playing a lot of Futures events because of the college matches. I'll just try to defend my points and see if I can get into the top 500 and surpass that ranking," said Okutoyi, who is aiming to qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Okutoyi revealed that she will be competing in some professional events between June and August after the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Team Championships scheduled for May 15-18 in Waco, Texas.
She competed in the NCAA Singles & Championships at the same venue in November last year.
Okutoyi, whose idol is American tennis great Serena Williams, has ambitions to play in the Grand Slams.
"At the moment I'm just playing more Futures events to improve my ranking. Maybe I'm not ranked enough to play the Grand Slams yet, but I'm just building up my ranking. Who knows? It could be next year or even this year. You never know. God's plan is always the best, so I'll just be there," said Okutoyi, whose favourite Bible verse is Isaiah 41:10.
The verse says, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
She is a member of the Jesus is Born Ministry Church.
“I’m a prayerful person, not a deep one but l like to thank God anytime,” she says.
At the W35 events in Nairobi, Okutoyi reached the quarter-finals in singles and the semi-finals in doubles in the first tournament. She won the doubles with Burundian partner Sada Nahimana and reached the singles final in the second tournament.
“Winning doubles means a lot to me. I have been getting second every time but winning this means a lot and I’m happy I got the win,” said Okutoyi.
She was disappointed with second place in singles, but still happy with the turnout of fans.
“Two unforgettable weeks. The crowd showed up every single day, bringing energy, passion, and love I’ll never forget. Kenya, you made history with me. Who would have thought a tennis match in Kenya would have such a crowd?” she wrote on her social media handles after going down 6-1, 6-4 to Joanna Garland of Chinese Taipei in the final.
Garland heaped praise on Okutoyi saying she was a talented player who could go places if she got a top coach.
Garland said she could return to the country to compete in the W50 event which Kenya will host, for the first time in history, at the end of this year.
A W35 is the third tier of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women's World Tennis Tour.
Third tier tournaments are W100 (highest level), W75, W50, W35 and W15 (lowest level).
The numbers represent the total WTA points awarded to the winner of the tournament.
When in Kenya, Okutoyi, who has a keen interest in fashion and owns a brand called "ao", is coached by Billie Jean King Cup team coach Francis Rogoi.
At Auburn, Okutoyi is trained by Auburn Women’s Tennis head coach Jordan Szabo and assistant coaches Pete Francis and Valeriya Zeleva.
There is also women’s support staff namely Misti Higgs (Director of Tennis Operations), Riley Hubbard (Sports Information Director), Hanna Arntsen (Athletic Trainer), Jordan Nilson (Strength & Conditioning), Kevin Fuhrer (Equipment Manager), Courtney Gage (Sport Administrator) and Cathie Helmbold (Academic Counsellor).
Szabo is doing his first season at Auburn in 2024-25. The two-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Assistant Coach of the Year was named Auburn Women’s tennis head coach in May 2024 to replace Caroline Lilley.
Okutoyi is easily Kenya’s hottest tennis talent.
She won the 2022 Junior Championships, Wimbledon doubles, the 2021 Africa Under-18 singles and the 2018 Eastern African Junior Championships.
Playing singles at the Grand Slams would be another feather in her impressive hat.
Time will tell.
