These Badass Tennis Stars Became The First In Their Countries To Win A Grand Slam Juniors Match
Angella Okutoyi from Kenya and Iran's Meshkatolzahra Safi made history at the 2022 Australian Open.
An 18-year-old tennis player has made history at the Australian Open for being the first Kenyan girl to win a Grand Slam juniors match. Angella Okutoyi beat Italy’s Federica Urgesi on Sunday in a 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 singles win.
History for Kenya 🇰🇪
Angella Okutoyi is the first girl from her country to win a junior Grand Slam match 👏 #AusOpen · #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/zzgkYsEEgI
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 23, 2022
“It is so great. It feels like a big step,” said Okutoyi of her debut. “I am happy to represent my country and everyone back home. It feels great being the first since 2005 to win at a Grand Slam. It gives me motivation, and I believe it gives Kenyan kids motivation to believe they can also do it,” she said to the International Tennis Federation.
When announcing she had qualified back in December, Okutoyi said it was her dream to play in a Grand Slam tournament. She is the second Kenyan to compete in the Australian Open after Paul Wekesa in 1989, and also follows in the footsteps of Susan Wakhungu who played in the 1978 Wimbledon Junior Championships, and Christian Vitulli in the US Open Junior Tennis Championships 17 years ago.
“I’m confident Angella is going places and with the opportunities coming from Grand Slam tournaments, she will become a better player, and I believe she will move up the rankings,” said her coach Thuku Rogoi.
In another massive milestone this tournament, 17-year-old Meshkatolzahra Safi also became the first Iranian girl to play in a junior Grand Slam, and the first to win a match in the category after defeating Aussie Anja Nayar on Sunday as well. Her victory came after a mammoth year, where Safi swept up a combined 10 singles and doubles junior titles.
“Although this is not my ultimate goal, it gives me a great feeling to be a motivation for other Iranian junior players and to encourage them,” she said to the ITF earlier this month. “Over the past years, perhaps the belief of the Iranian players has been that it is difficult to achieve something at international level. I hope that my improvements will encourage players and coaches to double their efforts.”
Okutoyi will play Australia’s Zara Larke in the second round of girls’ singles on Tuesday, while Safi will compete with players from Belgium and Kazakhstan next.
Photo Credit: Robert Prange/Getty Images