Okutoyi inspires young Kenyans while aiming for FISU Games success

From East Africa to Wimbledon to the USA to Rhine-Ruhr, Kenyan student-athlete Angella Okutoyi has achieved tennis success everywhere she’s been, and she’s just getting started.

At the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games, the 21-year-old business student is a top-ten seed and is in prime position to earn Kenya’s first medal – in any sport – at the biennial event since 2013 in Kazan, Russia.

“I feel like it’s a big thing,” Okutoyi said about the FISU Games. “It feels great to represent my country and my continent as well. I feel like it’s a big honour to be here, and Germany is such a nice place.”

“It was really tough at first”

Okutoyi started playing tennis when she was four years old.

“I didn’t really have much support when I was beginning my tennis journey,” she said.

Growing up in Kenya, the Nairobi native faced major challenges early on. Her mother died during childbirth and she was raised by her grandmother.

 In spite of all she went through, she soon started to achieve international success in her sport, winning her first International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament at age 14 at the Kigali Junior International Open.

Okutoyi’s success carried her all the way to the 2022 Australian Open junior tournament, where she became the first Kenyan to make the third round at a Grand Slam. She then won the girls’ doubles title at Wimbledon later that year and, in 2023, she became the first Kenyan to win an ITF singles title at the senior level.

While Okutoyi didn’t have a successful international tennis player from her home country to look to as an example, today in Kenya, girls picking up a racket for the first time don’t need to look far for a role model. 

“Most people who are playing tennis (in Kenya), they don’t really come from a well up family, and I can see the grit and the fight that they really want to play tennis,” Okutoyi said. “You can just see they have the anger or hunger to want to play tennis, and it just motivates me to keep pushing and reach higher so that they can see that they can actually do what I’m doing, and even better.”

Okutoyi’s success is fuelling a rising interest in the sport in her homeland.

“I feel like I’ve inspired a lot of kids now and we are having so many tournaments back home,” she said. “People are willing to contribute and to sponsor some tournaments.”

Off to the United States

In 2023, Okutoyi took her talents to the USA, where she joined the Auburn University team. At Auburn, she’s not just focusing on tennis, but also on working towards a degree in business administration.

“In college, only in the morning we have classes,” she said. “It could be just two hours a day for five days and then in the afternoon we have free day to go and practice, and maybe homework if you have. I feel like it’s very flexible and it’s not as stressful, just homework sometimes, or the exam, but it’s pretty good.”

When visiting the school, Okutoyi was drawn to the tennis team’s competitive atmosphere and coaching philosophy.

“They want to make the tennis players to turn pro and that’s what I want,” she said. “I want to become a professional tennis player, and just being around that atmosphere, I feel like we always push each other and that’s what I really need for my next step.”

Adjusting to the USA from Kenya may seem like a daunting task, but for a world traveller like Okutoyi, it’s just another international adventure.

“Before going to the university, I actually played the US Open,” she said. “It was kind of the same thing, and I’ve (already) been travelling around the world.”

In the first round of the 2025 FISU Games at ETuF Essen, Okutoyi defeated Thailand’s Lidia Podgorichani 6-2, 6-2 to move on to the round of 32.

“I want to come out with the gold,” Okutoyi said. “But I want to take it one at a time and play each point each match and just enjoy, because I feel like once I enjoy, I usually play good.”

Singles medal matches at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 tennis tournament are set for Saturday, 26 July.

The Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games take place from 16-27 July. Watch all the competitions live on fisu.tv. Click on the link to find the full schedule. 

Written by Fisher Madsen, FISU Young Reporter, USA

The Young Reporters Programme exemplifies FISU’s commitment to more than sports competitions. At every FISU World University Games, a group of talented aspiring sports journalists are chosen to cover the competition.