Africa Junior tennis champion Angela Okutoyi assisted by her Dutch partner Rose Marie have won Open doubles Junior Championship finals with 3-6, 6-4 [11-9] at Wimbledon, to become the first Kenyan to be crowned champion at a Major Open.
The duo defeated Canadians Kayla Cross and Victoria Mboko in the final of Wimbledon doubles under 18 Championship at the grass courts of All England Lawn Tennis Club.
They were not easily pushed off the lead and won the tie breaker 11-9 to not only win the match and the title, but also walk majestically on the road of history.
History has been made 🇰🇪!
Angella Okutoyi 🇰🇪 and Rose Marie Nijkamp 🇳🇱 win the Girls's Doubles final making Angella the FIRST Kenyan player to win a Grand Slam!#Wimbledon | @tennis_kenya pic.twitter.com/gISp6njiua
— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 9, 2022
Angela Okutoyi and Nijkamp had beaten the pair of Nikola Daubnerova (Serbia) and Lucija Ciric Bagaric (Croatia) by straight sets of 6-3-6-4 in Friday evening’s semi-final.
On the way to the final, Angela Okutoyi and Nijkamp swept aside Georgia Pedone (Italy) and Kaitlin Quevedo (USA) 6-4, 6-4, then proceeded to beat Denislava Glushkova (Bulgaria) and Hayu Kinoshita (Japan) 6-2, 6-3.
A ticket to the quarter finals saw them beat the Czech Republic pair of Linda Klimovicova and Dominika Salkova 6-7, 6-4, 11-9.
The Doubles final was Okutoyi’s second in eight tournaments since J2 Sousse in Tunisia in November 2021.
Angela Okutoyi is Wimbledon Junior Girls Doubles Champion!! Angie you are the real deal!! We’re extremely proud of this historic achievement. @Okutoyiangella2 @tennis_kenya @MEsipisu #Wimbledon #AngelaOkutoyi 🇰🇪 pic.twitter.com/CCIOFMBrsx
— Prof. Judi Wakhungu EGH (@JudiWakhungu) July 9, 2022
Okutoyi has also made history by becoming the first Kenyan to compete in the Australian Open. The Australian Open is a scheduled Grand Slam held annually in Melbourne, Australia.
Besides the 18-year-old prodigy, other Kenyans who have competed at Wimbledon are Christian Vitulli and Paul Wekesa. Vitulli reached Boys Doubles quarter-finals in 2006, while Wekesa was eliminated in Men’s Singles first round in 1996.