Angella Okutoyi is turning her attention to doubles as she seeks to extend her remarkable winning run in the discipline following her singles exit at the W35 Aldershot tournament in Great Britain.
The 22-year-old Kenyan and British training partner Brooke Black face Adithya Karunarathe from Hong Kong and Belgian Clara Vlasselaer in the quarter-finals from 5:00pm East African Time.
Okutoyi’s singles journey ended on Thursday afteroon after she lost 6-4, 6-4 to Japanese fourth seed Rina Saigo in a one-hour, 59-minute contest.
While her singles form has proved frustrating since her back-to-back W35 Nairobi titles in January, Okutoyi has been in outstanding form in doubles.
She and Black won the W50 Nottingham doubles title a fortnight ago.
Okutoyi has won five doubles titles in a row and six of her last seven tournaments, giving her another opportunity to make a deep run in Aldershot.
The Kenyan and Black train together under the guidance of Black’s father, former Zimbabwean Grand Slam star Wayne Black, whose experience has helped strengthen their partnership.
Their quarter-final opponents will provide another test as Okutoyi looks to maintain her remarkable doubles momentum.
For the African Games singles champion and doubles silver medalist Okutoyi, the switch to W35 Aldershot doubles offers a chance to put the singles disappointment behind her and continue a winning streak that has become a defining feature of her 2026 season.
Okutoyi’s singles title drought stretches back to January, when she swept the two successive W35 Nairobi tournaments. Since then, she has failed to reach another singles final at W50 Pelham in the United States, W100H Aschaffenburg in Germany, W50 Nottingham and W35 Aldershot.
Her latest singles defeat came against Saigo, who had reached the WTA 125 Istanbul and WTA 250 Prague singles finals before arriving in Aldershot.
With the singles challenge now over, Okutoyi’s immediate objective is to maintain her dominance in doubles and keep alive her hopes of another title with Black.
