Kenya got the perfect start in their Billie Jean King Cup 2025 Africa Group III opener after recording a dominant 3-0 over Tunisia in the tie played on Monday at the Central Tennis Club in Windhoek, Namibia.
In the tourney where Kenya is hoping to finally enjoy a breakthrough in their chase for promotion to Europe/Africa Group II, the Francis Rogoi-captained side wasted little time in showing their intent right from the get-go.
17-year-old Melissa Mwakha got the engine revving with a comfortable 6-1, 6-0 win over Lina Soussi in the first Singles before Angella Okutoyi secured the victory with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Mouna Bouzgarrou in the second Singles match.
Okutoyi then teamed up with Cynthia Wanjala for the Doubles where they battled to a 6-1, 6-3 win to record the clean sweep ahead of their second match against newly promoted Algeria on Tuesday.
Angella Okutoyi calls on team focus in Billie Jean King Cup 2025
Kenya headed into the tournament on the back of consecutive third-place finishes in the 2023 and 2024 editions of the event which were both held at the Nairobi Club in Kenya.
Speaking ahead of the event, Okutoyi, who won a historic Mixed Doubles Silver medal for Kenya at the 2025 FISU World University Games, called on the team to erase the past painful experiences and focus on the task ahead.
“I feel like we are ready and have been working hard to improve ourselves as individuals. We are confident that this time we can come out with a win and I just want all of us to trust in each other, take one day at a time and believe in our captain.
We just need to forget last year and think afresh about going into this tournament. I feel we needed a change and see how we are going to do.
It is sad that it is not at home but I feel like something different will be a good thing and it will be on hard court which I feel majority of us have been practicing on,” she told SportPesa Blog.
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Billie Jean King Cup 2025 Africa Group III pools and format
Kenya have been pooled in Group C alongside Zimbabwe, Tunisia and Algeria.
Pool A is headlined by Morocco, relegated from Group II alongside Madagascar, Burundi and Namibia while Pool B has Nigeria, Botswana, Ghana and Uganda.
The 12 teams will compete in a round robin format between Monday 4 and Wednesday 6 before the winners of each pool play each other in a second round robin between Thursday 7 and Saturday 9 to determine final rankings.
The top team will be promoted to Europe/Africa Group II in 2026.
Nations finishing bottom of their pools (A4, B4, C4) also play each other in a second round robin, with the team finishing bottom of that pool then being relegated to Africa Group IV next year.