Okutoyi to meet rival Niyonkuru in ITF tourney
Angela Okutoyi faces common rival Aisha Niyonkuru of Burundi in the ITF World Tennis Tour junior event Saturday at Nairobi Club in what promises to be a cracker.
The two players, both based at the East African Tennis Centre in Nairobi, showed their mettle with convincing wins in the semi-finals yesterday.
The duo has had interesting match-ups in the recent past with Niyonkuru famed for her power while youngster Okutoyi is known for her relentless fight.
Okutoyi, 15, won 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 against Ireland starlet Celline Simminyu in a contest that went in for more than an hour.
Okutoyi who is the defending Kenya Open Champion had a faulty start with the opponent pinning her with fine serving. Despite picking four games off the set, it was not her best performance yet as she gave away too many errors. Her returns were a bit uninspiring with the challenger breaking her thrice to eventually take the set.
However, in the follow-up sets, Okutoyi proved more composed and converted her points comfortably even though the Irish player proved a bit difficult especially in the long rallies.
Okutoyi had to maximise on her court movement and net play to destabilise the opponent which finally earned her the much-desired points. Aisha Niyonkuru on her part demolished Madagascan opponent Mialy Ranaivo in straight sets of 6-1, 6-0 to underscore her status as one of the favourites for the week one title.
Niyonkuru, who is seeded first in the tournament, was ruthless straight from the word go with the meek Ranaivo, who is fourth seed having little or no answers. The Burundian deployed an all-out attack play particularly utilising her brute strength and endless running. The first set saw her dropping only one game as she won most of her points through second serve and combined with her ferocious forehand winners. Ranaivo also made life difficult for herself with numerous unforced errors. - Barry Silah
