Kenya's Okutoyi wins African Games; eyes Olympic debut

Kenya's Angella Okutoyi, the 2022 Wimbledon girls' doubles champion, continued to make history for her country by claiming the singles gold medal at the African Games in Accra, Ghana this week.

Okutoyi, 20, defeated Egypt's Lamis Alhussein Abdel Aziz 6-4, 6-2 in the final to back up a career-best win over Alhussein Abdel Aziz's compatriot, No.1 seed Mayar Sherif, in the semifinals. Okutoyi had trailed No.70-ranked Sherif by a set and 5-2, but battled back to triumph 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(5) in 4 hours and 27 minutes.

Her gold medal run -- the first by a Kenyan woman at the African Games since Jane Davies-Doxzon in 1978 -- didn't go unnoticed at the top of the game. Three-time major finalist Ons Jabeur sent Okutoyi a congratulatory message, encouraging the youngster: "Keep going!" In response, Okutoyi posted on Instagram: "This just made my day."

The result paves a potential path to competing at this summer's Paris Olympic Games for Okutoyi. Currently ranked No.532, she will be able to claim an ITF place in the singles main draw via continental qualification provided her ranking is inside the Top 400 on the cut-off date of June 10.

Okutoyi, who is currently a sophomore at Auburn University, has confirmed that she will add professional tournaments to her schedule in a bid to qualify.

"I feel happy that I have qualified… but not qualified yet because my ranking isn’t there yet," she told the ITF. "As of now I’m trying to see if I can play more [ITF] tournaments to up-and-up my ranking to see myself into the Olympics."

Due to her college commitments, Okutoyi has played a limited professional schedule to date, competing in just 10 events since last July. Those ITF World Tour outings have been promising, though. Okutoyi has lifted the trophy twice, at a Monastir W15 last July and then on home soil at the Nairobi W25 in December. She has won 10 of her last 11 pro matches, following the Nairobi title with a run to the Naples ITF W35 semifinals this January.

The first Kenyan woman to win in history an ITF singles title, Okutoyi's accomplishments continue a trailblazing junior career. In 2022, she became the first girl from her country to win a junior Grand Slam match at the Australian Open, where she reached the third round. She became the first Kenyan Wimbledon champion in the same year after partnering Rose Marie Nijkamp to the girls' doubles title.

Okutoyi, who also won the silver medal in the African Games doubles event alongside Cynthia Wanjala, is backing herself all the way to seal an Olympic milestone. The trailblazing talent posted her podium moment on Instagram with the caption: "SEE YOU IN PARIS."