Okutoyi survives scare as Yego falls at ITF championships
By Barry.Silah, December 13, 2023
Kenya’s tennis ace Angela Okutoyi yesterday had to apply extra efforts to ward off her Swiss opponent Sophie Luescher in a three-set thrill to win 2-6/7-5/6-4 at the ITF (World Tennis Tour) W25 Championships currently taking place at the Karen Country Club.
After dropping the first set, the American based Okutoyi, 19, had to build composure to take the fight against the European challenger. Following a poor opening set, Okutoyi changed her approach and style to take the game to Luescher who was aggressive on the net as she was defensive down the baseline.
The Kenyan starlet, pushed by her family and fellow teammates, had to be creative pushing her opponent to uncomfortable places with big shots and game variation. She saved four match points thereon to force a decider against the relentless Switzerland Qualifier.
The match that took 2hrs 32 minutes had it all with both players fighting tooth and nail in the Round of 32 meet. In the last set, Okutoyi began well and swiftly taking a 2-0 lead but somewhat the Swiss star came alive and forced an early tie. Her movement was good as Okutoyi went big on her serve while effecting maximum impact off her returns.
It was then a battle of wits and mentality with Okutoyi taking charge again and defending well onwards as the Swiss opponent attempted a chase.
The Kenyan had to see it through in tough conditions as her challenger gave her all manner of problems but only falling short in converting the important points.
Meanwhile, another Kenyan representative Stacy Yego on her part failed to go beyond the second round after losing to Italian Matilde Mariani in straight sets of 2-6/0-6. Yego’s first round win over fellow Kenyan Roselida Asumwa did not quite give the former the right mindset in going against the gritty European.
The match that took only 51 minutes on the clock saw Yego hit an incredible seven double faults with only 48 per cent of first serve points won against 86% for her opponent. On the opposite end, the Italian challenger was on her element winning 55 per cent of her second serve points and 75 per cent of Break points won plus 67 per cent of first serve in.