CS Sport Ababu Namwamba and Faith Kipyegon (right) with Kenya team Tennis during the Billie Jean King cup Africa group III at Nairobi Club. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]
World 1500m record holder Faith Kipyegon, triple World Half Marathon champion Geofrey Kamworor and former World Marathon champion Geoffrey Kirui were among the fans who cheered the Kenya tennis team to victory in Nairobi on Tuesday.
Wimbledon junior doubles champion Angella Okutoyi steered Kenya to cruise over Botswana with a 3-0 win on the Day Two of the Billie Jean King Cup Africa Group III tournament at the Nairobi Club.
Brilliant Okutoyi dismissed Chakanyuka Chelsea of Botswana 2-0 (6-1, 6-2) in her singles' second win in the competition.
Partnering with her sister Roselida Asumwa, Okutoyi also beat Botswana duo of Chelsea and Kelebogile Monnayoo 2-0 (6-2, 6-4) to give Kenya a second win in the doubles.
Alicia Owegi also rose to the occasion to pull a tough victory against Cheludo Leungo of Botswana, winning their crunch tie 2-1( 4-6,6-4,6-2).
"As a team, we felt so nice by the presence of Kipyegon, Kirui and Kamworor who were here to give us support," Okutoyi told Standard Sports.
"It's such a great privilege that the world beaters were here to watch us play. You just don't see that happening everyday so we feel honoured. They talked to us and it really meant a lot to the team, we felt encouraged, their confidence boost helped us to face our opponents with vigour."
Commenting on her clash with Chelsea, Okutoyi said the victory seemed easy to the fans who had thronged the venue but not to her as she had to hold her nerves and pressure that she was dealing with from the inside.
"I had to hold myself because Chelsea had some good serves. I needed to get on my serve game as well because I knew it was going to be tough to return her service," said Okutoyi.
"I was actually down at some points, but I tried to be calm and I tried to take each step at a time. I was focused and this made everything go well," said Okutoyi.
While commenting on Owegi's victory, Okutoyi said the win easen a lot of pressure on her shoulder as well as on the Kenyan team.
"I'm happy that she won, her victory inspired me to go for the win too in my match;it gave me motivation. I'm glad that she just didn't give up despite having cramps in her legs that halted the game at some points," said Okutoyi.
During that clash with Leungo, Okutoyi led by example to exert her authority on Owegi who was almost giving up against her Botswana rival.
Okutoyi raised her voice for encouragement, telling Owegi to soldier on and it paid off.
"I saw she needed support, so I had to be like a leader. I talked to her and she was responsive," Okutoyi explained.
While cherishing her first victory in the tournament, Owegi admitted emotions took over her in the better part of the match.
"I wasn't consistent enough, but I'm glad I was able to pull through," Owegi said.
