Team Kenya target promotion as Billie Jean Cup returns

Kenya's national women's tennis team is looking to get promotion to Group II as they prepare for the 12-nation Billie Jean King Cup Africa Group III tournament scheduled for June 12-17 at the Nairobi Club.

Head coach Francis Rugoi says they are yearning to qualify for the next level because that will provide them with the opportunity to play at a higher standard against the best players in the world.

“Specifically for Kenya it's a lot of pressure since we’re the hosting country. When you host an event, you actually want perfection so you can be considered for bigger events. We are currently in group III but it's really important for the players and the country that we move to group II,” Rugoi said.

Top players from Kenya, Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe will compete at this year's edition where the winner will gain promotion to Europe/Africa Group II.

The Kenyan team is comprised of Junior Wimbledon doubles champion Angella Okutoyi who has emphasized the importance of Kenya earning promotion.

“I want us to just qualify. That's the main goal, and as an individual I want to put a score on the board for my team in the singles. And if I play in the doubles we want clean sheets to win but our main goal is to qualify,” Okutoyi said.

Along with Okutoyi's twin sister Roselida Asumwa who are all on scholarships in the USA, Alicia Owegi will also be competing and she is very confident Kenya can make it.

“Our goal is to qualify. And I think we have a good chance. We just need to focus on each singles match and also the doubles. But I think that I'm confident that we will do better than the previous years.” Said Owegi.

Okutoyi and Asumwa joined Auburn University and Cowley College respectively in January 2023 while Owegi joined Alabama University late 2022.

The fourth player on the Kenyan Billie Jean King Cup team is Mbagathi Road Secondary School student Cynthia Wanjala, 18.

The four players were selected for the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Europe/Africa in Skopje, North Macedonia where Asumwa, Wanjala and Owegi finished 11th out of 14 countries.

Kenya will be hosting the competition for the first time after 28 years of waiting, after hosting the tournament last time in 1995 when it was known as Fed Cup.