A tennis path created by the William sisters has now welcomed Kenyan tennis sensation Angela Okutoyi, becoming the first Kenyan and sub-Saharan African female player to win a Grand Slam.
Angela Okutoyi, the 18-year-old Kenyan tennis superstar Saturday became the first Kenyan to win a Grand Slam, taking her spectacular sports career a notch higher and putting Kenya on the global map.
Okutoyi and her Dutch partner Marie Nijkamp won the Girls’ Wimbledon junior doubles, drawing congratulatory messages from Kenyan and global leaders.
The duo beat Canadians Kayla Cross and Victoria Mboko 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 in the final of the Wimbledon Open doubles Junior Championships at the grass outdoor courts of All England Lawn Tennis Club.
“I mean, it’s not a dream anymore. It’s a reality!!!” Okutoyi wrote on Twitter after the victory.
In tennis, a Grand Slam is the achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline in the same calendar year. It is also referred to as the “Calendar-year Grand Slam” or “Calendar Slam.”
Grand Slam tournaments offer the most ranking points, prize money, public and media attention, the greatest strength and size of the field, and the longest matches.
The rising star has risen, shaking and breaking off the shackles of poverty and hardship that by and large characterized her career.
Okutoyi won the Africa Junior Championship on Clay Court Under 14 singles in Algeria in 2018 and proceeded to win singles and doubles at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) East African Under 18 Junior Circuit, ITF Nairobi Junior Open, and Eastern Africa Zonal Championships Under 16 in 2019. Okutoyi has also competed at the Roland Garros.
The youngster grew up under her grandmother’s guardianship after her mother tragically died while giving birth to Okutoyi and her twin sister. In a recent media interview, she said they struggled to get a meal, a poverty challenge that affected her training.
It doesn’t matter the background you come from or where you’ve been; it’s just the belief and the dream that you can achieve it. Now I believe that we’ll have more Kenyans here for sure.- Angela Okutoyi.
“When I was young, it wasn’t really easy to train without eating. Tennis means everything to me. It gives us the meals we have now at home,” she said.
The soft-spoken young lady who fell in love with tennis at four said she plays “just to enjoy.” Nonetheless, she has always believed that her sport would yield off someday.
“The fact that I am on that court, I know it’s something that is going to help me in the future,” Okutoyi said.
She draws motivation from her grandmother, whom she describes as a father, mother, and grandmother.
“Seeing her (grandmother) happy makes me happy. She had to take care of us and do everything by herself,” Okutoyi said.
Her dream has been to get her legendary grandmother out of poverty, build her a house, and accord her a good life.
Angela is a girl who fights, who doesn’t give up. By the time she was six, she was defeating 8-year-old players- Coach Joe Karanja
Tennis, she said, has taught her to be independent, determined, and disciplined. She wakes up early in the morning to train and cook before beginning her school work.
On the way to the final in Wimbledon, Okutoyi and Nijkamp swept aside Georgia Pedone (Italy) and Kaitlin Quevedo (USA); Denislava Glushkova (Bulgaria) and Hayu Kinoshita (Japan); Czech nationals Linda Klimovicova and Dominika Salkova in the first three rounds.
Joe Karanja, who is Okutoyi’s coach at home, had predicted recently that the youngster would participate and win a Grand Slam.
“Angela is a girl who fights, who doesn’t give up. By the time she was six, she was defeating 8-year-old players. For me, I knew she was going places. I see her participating in the Grand Slams. She is not far from there,” Karanja told the BBC.
After the win, Okutoyi said: “I’m now able to inspire most players from Kenya and Africa. I’m able to put a belief in them that they can also achieve it.
“It doesn’t matter the background you come from or where you’ve been; it’s just the belief and the dream that you can achieve it. Now I believe that we’ll have more Kenyans here for sure,” Okutoyi said.
Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s President, led Kenyans in celebrating Okutoyi’s victory. Shortly after the win, the State House released a statement lauding the star’s feat.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has congratulated teenage tennis sensation Angela Okutoyi for being the first Kenyan to win a Grand Slam.
Kenyatta hailed Okutoyi’s historic victory as a momentous achievement that has not only lifted Kenya’s profile in world tennis, but that will also inspire a generation of young players to excel in the sport,” the statement read.
Manoah Esipisu, Kenya’s High Commissioner for the UK, wrote on Twitter:
“Tennis – Take a bow. Angela Okutoyi is the first Kenyan to win a Grand Slam. Wimbledon. A huge congratulations.”
The Championships, Wimbledon, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious.
The tennis sensation is currently ranked 61 on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior rankings. She’s expected to compete at the US Open juniors in September this year.