Fresh from winning the doubles category at the women's 15's tournament in Monastir, Tunisia, the 2022 Wimbledon doubles junior champion, Angela Okutoyi, will be seeking the singles category title this week.
She started her tournament on a winning note, beating Vlada Mincheva of Russia 6-3, 6-2 and gaining revenge for her loss in the quarterfinals last week to the same opponent when she lost 6-1, 7-6, 6-3.
Okutoyi had teamed up with Frenchwoman Beverly Nyangom to win the doubles category in the tournament over the Italian duo of Samira de Stefano and Gala Parravicini winning 6-4, 3-6, 10-2.
"Winning the doubles was a confidence booster for me. Now I hope to go all the way in the singles category and earn as many ranking points as possible," added Okutoyi.
The country's youngest Kenya Open champion, who is now a student at Auburn University in the USA, believes a win will be a platform to do well in subsequent tournaments later in the year.
“The tournaments I am playing here are a stepping stone to the bigger competitions later in the year" observed Okutoyi.
Okutoyi graduated to the senior ranks this year after dominating the junior categories for the past two years.
The 2022 Rwanda Open champion said she will take one match at a time in her quest for glory in the Tunisian city.
“The level of competition is quite high but there are aspects of my play I have improved and want to see how I will fair on,” she noted
Among the players, Okutoyi will face include Marie Villet of France, India's Shrivalli Bhamidaparty, and Romanian Alexandra Lordache
At the conclusion of the tournament, Okutoyi will come back to the country and take a break before heading back to the United States to continue with her academic interests.
