African Games tennis champion Angela Okutoyi received a major boost after winning the doubles category of the W15 Monastir doubles category over the weekend.
Okutoyi, who is expected to play in the W35 and W50 La Marsa tournaments, teamed up with Egyptian Merna Refaat to win the doubles category.
They defeated China's Yi Liu and Jiayu Xu 6-2, 6-2 on the hard court surface of the Tunisian city.
The two-time Kenya Open champion believes the win in the doubles will be vital ahead of the make-or-break tourneys in the next two weeks, where she is expected to chase ranking points to qualify for the Olympics in Paris.
“I am delighted to win the doubles in Monastir. It was a tough battle but am happy my partner and I were able to win,” she added.
The Auburn-based student said adjusting from clay to the hard court surface successfully has given her confidence ahead of the upcoming tournaments.
“I have had good practice playing on the hard court surface and I am looking forward to good results,” added
In the semis, the duo beat top seeds Zeel Desai (India) and Daria Khomutsianskaya (Belarus) 6-3, 6-1. They defeated Jiaying He and Ying Xhang 6-2, 2-6, 10-7 in the first round.
They then earned a walkover in the quarter-final against Onyu Choi of South Korea and Bianca Compuesto of Australia.
Monastir has been a hunting ground for Okutoyi in the recent past. She won the W15 tournament there in 2023 after beating American Isabella Harvison 6-2, 7-6 in the final. She also bagged the doubles alongside Frenchwoman Beverly Nyangom.
Okutoyi needs to be in the top 400 by June 10 for her to qualify for the Paris Olympics set for July – August.
She is currently ranked 502 in the world with 109 points in singles and needs 50-70 points to get into the top 400
