'History keeps following me'- Okutoyi says after setting another tennis record

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TENNIS 'History keeps following me'- Okutoyi says after setting another tennis record

Abigael Wafula 09:14 - 01.08.2023

She had an unbeaten run that saw her top the podium and seal her maiden ITF World Tennis Tour crown.

Trailblazing Angela Okutoyi is indeed a history maker, from becoming the first Kenyan to win a Grand Slam title to now becoming the second to win a professional singles tennis title.

She had an unbeaten run that saw her top the podium and seal her maiden ITF World Tennis Tour crown. Okutoyi had a wild card to the event and did not disappoint as she put up a good fight to clinch the title.

After her dominance in Tunisia, the 19-year-old became the first Kenyan player to lift singles silverware on the ITF World Tennis Tour and the first player from Kenya to win a professional singles event since Paul Wekesa (Andorra Challenger) in 1994.

After her win, Okutoyi wrote on her Twitter account saying: “You know what they say, hard work does pay off – my first pro title W15 and not the last. History keeps on following me."

Meanwhile, Okutoyi has had a tough upbringing and it will definitely continue to be told as she continues to advance in her career and make Kenya proud.

Okutoyi and her twin sister, Roselida Asumwa, were raised by their grandmother after their mother tragically died while giving birth to them in 2004.

"My mum passed away giving birth to me and my twin sister and ever since I have lived with my grandmother, who is a single mum.

"It was really hard. We started with nothing. Other children would laugh at us and call us names. We became the joke, but we kept our heads down and did our fighting on the court.

"When I started playing tennis, it was hard and I remember there were times I would play and wouldn’t have eaten the whole of that day. I slept hungry for consecutive nights, with water the only thing I’d have all day,” Okutoyi said during the 2022 edition of the ITF World Tour.

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