Wimbledon junior doubles champion Angela Okutoyi has set her sights on winning next week's Monastir tournament in Tunisia ahead of the US Open in September.
Okutoyi feels the hard court surface in Tunisia will provide ideal preparation for the US Open event in New York as she seeks to go on a good run in the singles category.
"I'm looking forward to playing in Tunisia against some of the top players in the world and getting adequate preparation ahead of the US Open.
Okutoyi said she hopes to adapt accordingly to the hard court surface having played on grass for the past month in tournaments in Northampton and Wimbledon.
“ It won't be a problem because, for the better part of the year, I played on the hard court so adjusting will not be a problem,” noted Okutoyi
The African junior champion believes she has the momentum from winning at Wimbledon and believes things will work out perfectly.
“Confidence-wise, it is a big boost and I am relishing the challenge of playing in Tunisia and Egypt before heading to the US," she revealed.
The country's youngest Kenya Open champion said she is working on several aspects of her game to improve her performance come the US Open.
Okutoyi hopes to improve on her ranking by going on a good run in both tournaments in Egypt and Tunisia. “Ranking will be key and I hope to improve to be in the top 50 by the end of the US open."
Okutoyi has so far had a mixed performance at the three tennis Grand Slam tournaments.
In the 2022 Australian Open, she defeated Italian qualifier Federica Urgesi 6-4, 6-7 (5), and 6-3 in the first round. She continued her form against Australian qualifier Zara Larke 7-6, 5-7, 6-1 in the second round, winning in three sets.
She later lost in her third-round match against Serbian player Lola Radivojević 6-3, 6-2, but her performance made her the first Kenyan in the world to progress to the third round in a Grand Slam.
