On Sunday afternoon at Parklands Sports Club, Angela Okutoyi, the Kenyan trailblazer in tennis, added another chapter to her growing legacy, capturing the 2026 ITF World Tennis Tour W35 Nairobi singles title after a high-quality, emotionally charged three-set battle against Italy’s Martina Colmegna.
In front of a lively home crowd that stayed with her through every momentum swing, Okutoyi produced a performance built on resilience, tactical clarity, and belief, edging the experienced Italian 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in a final that demanded patience as much as power.
The Kenyan set the tone early, stepping inside the baseline and dictating rallies to take the opening set 6-3. Her footwork was sharp, her shot selection disciplined, and she consistently found depth off both wings to keep Colmegna on the defensive.
Colmegna, a seasoned campaigner at this level, responded exactly as expected. The 29-year-old cleaned up her service games, varied her patterns, and capitalized on a brief dip from Okutoyi to claim the second set 6-3, dragging the final into a decisive third act.
What followed was a test of nerve.
Both players traded early breaks in a tense decider, neither willing to give ground. But as the set settled, Okutoyi began to assert herself once more. Drawing energy from the stands, the African Games champion raised her intensity at a crucial juncture, breaking serve before calmly consolidating the advantage. From there, she showed maturity beyond her years, managing the scoreboard and closing out the match 6-3 to seal a long-awaited triumph in Nairobi.
The victory carried extra meaning. Twelve months earlier, Okutoyi had fallen just short at the same venue, finishing runner-up in the 2025 final. This time, there was no slipping away.
The singles title crowned an outstanding week for the Auburn University student, who looked in control from the opening round. She launched her campaign with a composed 6-4, 6-3 win over Hungary’s Luca Udvardy, before raising her level to dismiss Serbia’s Dusica Popovski 6-4, 6-1 in the second round. Her quarterfinal was cut short when Serbia’s Natalija Senic retired after the first set, sending Okutoyi into the last four.
The semifinals proved her sternest challenge. On Saturday, January 3, she dug deep to overturn a one-set deficit against Polish international Zuzanna Pawlikowska, grinding out a dramatic 2-6, 6-0, 7-5 victory in a match that underlined her growing mental toughness.
Okutoyi’s success in Nairobi was not limited to singles. Teaming up with Pawlikowska in the doubles draw, the pair combined effectively to defeat France’s Alyssa Reguer and China’s Yufei Ren 6-2, 7-5 in the final, completing a memorable double crown at Parklands.
The W35 Nairobi tournament carries a total prize purse of 30,000 dollars, and Okutoyi’s title run also earned her 35 valuable WTA ranking points, a significant boost as she continues her steady climb on the professional circuit. The win will most likely move her closer to or inside the top 500 players in the next World rankings. The win further reinforces her position at the summit of Kenyan women’s tennis and signals her readiness to compete consistently at higher levels.
Back on home soil, with expectations rising and history once again rewritten, Angella Okutoyi delivered exactly what champions do.
