History as Okutoyi, Nijkamp win Wimbledon Open girls’ crown
By Peter Mulemi, July 9, 2022
Rising Kenyan tennis star Angela Okutoyi and her partner Rose Marie Nijkamp are the new Wimbledon Open girls’ doubles champions after beating the Canadian pair of Kayla Cross and Victoria Mboko on Saturday afternoon.
The pair won the under 18 girls final 2-1(3-6, 6-4, [11-9] to enter the history books.
On Friday the duo came from behind in both sets to knock out third-seed Lucija Ciric Bagaric (Croatia) and Nikola Daubnerova (Slovakia) 6-3, 6-4 in the semis served at the grass courts of All England Lawn Tennis Club.
Okutoyi, 18, was the first Kenyan to play at the Wimbledon Open and had never played on grass until last week, so a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Canadian Mia Kupres in the opening round of the girls singles on Saturday was a nice experience.
In January the teenage sensation reached the juniors’ third round at the Australian Open and later participated in the Roland Garos.