On her way to the title, she defeated Helena Buchwald of Germany, Yasmine Mansouri of France, Anastasia Abbagnato of Italy, Zeel Desai of India and Isabella Harvison of the United States
2022 Wimbledon Girls Doubles champion Angella Okutoyi made history on Sunday 30 July by becoming Kenya's second tennis player to win a professional singles tennis event.
In the competition she was participating in as a wild card invitee, the 19-year-old beat all and sundry to win the ITF W15 Monastir singles title, despite being unseeded.
"HISTORY KEEPS ON FOLLOWING ME
#noweakness (sic)," she posted on her twitter account.
Okutoyi joins Paul Wekesa, who won the Andorra Challenger in 1994, as the only other Kenyan to win a singles event on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
"Well, it only took 29 years, but a Kenyan has won another professional tournament," Okutoyi told her University's media (Auburn) after the win.
"This means everything to me because I have come so far. Seeing that I am changing this sport in my country is massive for me. Winning the W15 in Monastir will open doors for me as well as show young kids in Kenya and Africa that we can all achieve what we put our minds to, I have proven that," she continued.
On her way to the title, she defeated Helena Buchwald of Germany, Yasmine Mansouri of France, Anastasia Abbagnato of Italy, Zeel Desai of India and Isabella Harvison of the United States during the event.
Her largest upset of the event occurred in the first round with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Buchwald, who holds an ITF singles ranking of 59th. Of the five matches, Okutoyi only required a third set in her match against Abbagnato.
Tunisia proved to be a successful outing for the Kenyan youngster as, together with her French partner Beverly Nyangom, the duo was crowned champions of the ITF Monastir W15 Women’s Doubles played last week.
Okutoyi and Nyangom edged out their opponents - Gaia Parravicini and Samira De Stefano 6-4, 3-6 (10-2) in the final matchup.