Kenya’s tennis ace Angella Okutoyi has urged the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to reconsider certain regulations, particularly those governing ranking eligibility after she narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The 2023 African Games champion failed to qualify for the Olympics last year after falling short of the required position within the top 400 players despite being the best player on the African continent.
Okutoyi’s team had appealed to the ITF, arguing that the seven-month delay in the African Games had deprived her of sufficient time to accrue the necessary ranking points. However, their appeal was rejected, resulting in her exclusion from the Games.
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To qualify for the 2024 Olympic Tennis Event, athletes were required to secure a place through their performance in the Pan American Games, Asian Games, or African Games.
Two men’s and women’s singles spots were available through the Pan American Games while one spot per singles event was up for grabs from the Asian and African Games.
Athletes seeking qualification via continental placement also needed to be ranked within the ATP or WTA Top 400 by June 10.
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Currently ranked position 581 on the WTA standings, Okutoyi expressed her disappointment at missing out on the Olympics, arguing that if Mayar Sherif, who won the previous African Games, was allowed to qualify for Tokyo 2020 without meeting the ranking criteria, she should have been granted the same opportunity.
“I was extremely disappointed missing out on the Olympics. I believe the rule should be changed. I don’t understand why the policy was changed, especially considering that Mayar Sherif, who won the last African Games went to the Olympics without any ranking requirements. She received a direct entry,” Okutoyi said in an exclusive interview with Black Spin Global.
The 20-year-old tennis star has called on the ITF to reconsider the current regulations, arguing that they are especially detrimental to African players, who often lack the resources and opportunities to compete in enough tournaments to improve their rankings.
“For the rules, I think they need to change. I do not know who is up there but they need to sit down and change this at least for us Africans. Having just two players in Africa is not enough while other countries have like six or five players.
It is not fair. At least they could have given me an exception because I won the African Games. I deserved to be there even if I did not attain the ranking score,” she added.
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Okutoyi went on to explain that she was unaware of the rule change until January 2024, when she was in Ghana.
“I thought the qualification process would remain the same for 2024. But when I was in Ghana, I found that the rules had changed. If they were going to change the regulations, they should have done so after the 2024 Olympics, not before. They should have given us like four years of transition period,” she said
She emphasized that her disappointment was not unique to her, noting that any athlete in her position, whether they won the African Games or not would have faced similar frustration.
“I feel it was tough for everyone, not just for me, because I won the All Africa Games. Definitely, if someone else had won they could have been in the same shoes I was in,” she explained.
“It was not really good and just considering that we don’t really have that many tennis players in Africa like in the global world—simply, we do not have as much support in Africa compared to other continents, who can at least get wild cards to big events and boost their ranking, or have many tournaments that could help them play higher events, unlike my country.”
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Okutoyi also shared how grueling the process of chasing ranking points had been for her for those months.
“Those couple of months were tough for me. I was exhausted, bearing in mind I was also in school because it was college season and balancing future events and school was exhausting.
There was a time I was about to twist my ankle playing for my school because of the fatigue from playing back to back so I could see if I could get the top 400 that was needed,” she concluded.
Angella Okutoyi
