Dylan Bettencourt
Kenyan tennis star Angella Okutoyi said every time she plays tennis she imagines how it could change her family’s lives.
The teenager has a strong connection with her grandmother Mary who raised her after her mother lost her life during childbirth. Mary works as a cleaner at a local school when she is not taking care of Okutoyi.
“She had to take care of everything by herself and she stood in as our father, mother and grandmother,” said Okutoyi, who calls her grandmother mum.
“Tennis will help me to remove my grandmother from poverty and build her a house and get her a good life,” she told BBC Sport.
She is already proving that she has what it takes, becoming one of the names to look out for in the sport when she became the first Kenyan female to win a junior Grand Slam match during the Australian Open.
Pictures of Okutoyi in action during the Australian Open has Mary smiling with joy.
“Tennis is more than just a sport to me,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say it’s therapy but when I’m on court I know it’s something that is going to help me in future.”
She said tennis gives them the meals that they are having at home right now.
“It gives me courage. It helps my family,” she said.
Okutoyi is the highest ranked African in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior world rankings, sitting 59th.
The Kenyan, who is inspired by Serena Williams, also has not had an easy road.
“Some days I went to training without eating anything. I was wearing torn shoes and I didn’t have any of the equipment I have now,” she said.
Her next Grand Slam is the French Open and her grandmother hopes that she keeps getting financial support so she can continue competing.
Image source: @WTA_Insider
