Tennis: Kenyan tennis star Okutoyi bows out of US Open

Former Africa tennis junior champion Angella Okutoyi is out of US Open.

Okutoyi and her partner Rose Marie Nijkamp lost in the girls' doubles match in the second round 7-6, 6-3 against Americans Natalie Black and Piper Charney on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows in New York, the USA on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Okutoyi and Nijkamp saw off fifth seeds Qavia Lopez (USA) and Christine Svendsen (Denmark) 2-0 to advance from the first round.

In the singles category, the 2018 Kenya Open champion Okutoyi suffered a second-round exit in singles against eighth-seeded Australian Taylah Preston 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 in the second round.

The 18-year-old Kenyan tennis star reached the second round after breezing past German's Carolina Kuhl by straight sets in the first round on Sunday evening.

Okutoyi stunned Kuhl 7-6, 7-5 to complete sweet revenge who had lost to the German 6-2, 6-3 in the second round of the JA Cape Town in South Africa last year in October.

Last Saturday, Okutoyi added another accolade to her trophy cabinet as she bagged the Girls Doubles title in the J1 Repentigny tournament that took place in Canada

Alongside her Polish partner Malwina Rowinska, Okutoyi, staged a thrilling comeback from a set down to claim the trophy after the duo beat Ella Sidel (Germany) and Amelia Waligora (Belgium) 3-6, 6-2, 10-8 in the nail-biting finale.

On the list of titles that Okutoyi has won since 2018 are the Kigali Junior International Open (2018) and two J5 Nairobi tournaments in 2019. She also won two J4 Nairobi tournaments in January 2021 and Africa Under-18 in November 2021.