Junior Wimbledon doubles champions Angella Okutoyi and Alicia Owegi have arrived in Kenya in preparation for the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup Africa Group III, scheduled to take place from June 12-17 at the Nairobi Club.
The two players, along with Okutoyi’s twin sister Roselida Asumwa, who is expected to arrive on Tuesday, are freshmen on scholarships in the USA.
Angella Okutoyi and Roselida Asumwa joined Auburn University and Cowley College, respectively, in January of this year, while Alicia Owegi joined Alabama University late last year.
The fourth member of the Kenyan Billie Jean King Cup team is Cynthia Wanjala, an 18-year-old student from Mbagathi Road Secondary School.
The Kenyan team will undergo training with renowned coach Francis Rogoi, who played a significant role in Okutoyi’s remarkable rise in the International Tennis Federation junior rankings. From being ranked 186 in January 2021, Okutoyi reached a career-high ranking of 49 in September 2022.
These four players were selected to represent Kenya at the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Europe/Africa event held in Skopje, North Macedonia.
Asumwa, Wanjala, and Owegi finished 11th out of 14 countries in the competition, while Okutoyi was unable to participate as she was competing in the prestigious Wimbledon Junior Championships in London, where she clinched the doubles title alongside Rose Marie Nijkamp from the Netherlands.
In preparation for the 12-nation Africa Group III tournament, Nairobi Club is upgrading its eight murram courts to internationally-recognized clay courts, providing a suitable playing surface for the event.
The last time Kenya hosted the Billie Jean King Cup was in 1995 when it was still known as the Fed Cup.
This year’s edition will feature top players from Kenya, Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The winner of the tournament will earn promotion to Europe/Africa Group II.
