Alicia Owegi will be aiming to win the J5 ITF junior tournament starting on Monday after coming up short in the first leg at the Nairobi Club.
Owegi was bundled out in the quarterfinals on Friday, going down 6-3 6-2 to Egyptian Kamel Lojain in the singles category.
However, she remains confident she will be in better shape in the second tournament.
"I played well but lost to a more experienced opponent. I have learnt my lessons and will want to bounce back and go all the way next time,” said Owegi.
Lojain went on to win the singles category by beating Adi Bitton of Israel in the final 6-3 6-0.
Owegi later teamed up with Rosehilda Asumwa in the doubles category where they lost 6-4, 3-6 (10-5) to Great Britain pair of Macy Denney-Richards and Elizabeth Evans in the final.
Owegi is using the ITF tournament as preparation for the Billie Jean King Cup and is satisfied with her preparations for the tournament slated for Macedonia next week.
"In terms of training and competitive matches, we are on the right track and it will help us when we meet the top teams in the world,” added Owegi.
Owegi said she will work on her backhand returns and service game for the second leg of the tournament.
"There are aspects of my game I need to work on before we go to Macedonia and I am confident we can perform at the highest level," she observed.
Team Kenya will be seeking to improve on their dismal position from last year where they finished position 20 in the 21-team torunament.
Owegi believes the presence of Africa junior champion Angela Okutoyi and Cynthia Cheruto will help improve on their position from last year.
Kenya lost 3-0 to Algeria, Malta and Zimbabwe before bowing out with a 2-1 loss to Namibia in last year's fixtures.
Team Kenya face an acid test as they confront 16 other teams including —hosts Macedonia, Albania, Botswana, Burundi, Congo DRC, Iceland, Ireland, Kosovo, Malta, Namibia, North Macedonia, Portugal, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan and Uganda.
