Angella Okutoyi: From Tough Beginnings to Winning a Grand Slam, Tennis Star Revels in High Profile Victory

• President Uhuru Kenyatta has led the nation in congratulating tennis superstar Angella Okutoyi who became the first-ever Kenyan to win a tennis Grand Slam
• Okutoyi won the Wimbledon Junior Double Championships alongside her partner Rose Marie Nijkamp
• Okutoyi's star has been rising with the young talent defying a tough childhood to shatter tennis records at such a tender age

Kenyans from all walks of life have continued to send in their congratulatory messages to Angella Okutoyi, who became the first Kenyan to win a Grand Slam over the weekend.

Okutoyi partnered with Rose Marie Nijkamp from the Netherlands to win the Wimbledon Open doubles Junior Championships. The duo beat Canadians Kayla Cross and Victoria Mboko to see Okutoyi write her name in Kenyan tennis history.

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President Uhuru Kenyatta led the tributes via State House's official Twitter account, terming Okutoyi's victory as a momentous occasion for the country. Former Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama also left a word for the 18-year-old.

But as Game Yetu reports, it has been quite a journey for the prodigy. Okutoyi was orphaned at birth after she lost her mother during delivery. Her grandmother Mary Ndonda gave them(her and her sister) up to an orphanage but took them back when she was seven months.

The grandmother worked as a cook at Loreto Convent Msongari, where Okutoyi nurtured her love for tennis under coach Joe Karanja. Karanja noticed she was a potential star in the making and made arrangements to get her enrolled at the International Tennis Federation Training Centre in Burundi when she was just 10 years old.

She grabbed headlines in 2018 when she won the Kenya Open after beating former champion Shufaa Changawa. She became the African Junior Champion in 2021, which she, unfortunately, relinquished in April this year after going down to South African Leigh Van Zyl.

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She has, however, amassed high-profile appearances at the Australian and French Opens before her Wimbledon victory. From the UK, her attention will now shift to the United States Open, which will take place from the 29th of August.

Maxine Wahome became the first woman to win a round at the World Rally Championships

Sports Brief had previously reported that Maxine Wahome made history after she became the first woman to win a Safari Rally round. Wahome used 25 minutes and 27 seconds to finish first in the WRC third-tier class.

She finished 16th overall in the four-day event that was won by Kalle Rovanpera. The 21-year-old led a 1-2-3 finish for Toyota Gazoo to take his fourth win in the six legs this season.

But home fans who had thronged Naivasha town and its environs were elated to see Wahome put in a spectacular performance in her new Ford Fiesta Rally3 car. She previously drove the Subaru Impreza N12 which she used at the Africa Rally Championships.