10-05-2025
Billie Jean King Cup assignment awaits Joleen before joining Ivy League school
KUALA LUMPUR: National tennis player Joleen Saw is hoping to help Malaysia improve on its top-three finish in the Billie Jean King Cup Asia-Oceania Group II competition from last year.
The competition will again be held in Kuala Lumpur this year at the National Tennis Centre on June 16-21.
Joleen said she expects the competition to be tough with teams such as Indonesia, Pacific Oceania and the Philippines in the mix.
The other countries competing in Group II are Singapore, Uzbekistan, Northern Mariana Islands, Kyrgyzstan, Iran and Mongolia.
"I usually don't want to set expectations that are too high as I just want to try and focus on the process," said Joleen recently.
"But of course the goal is to try and get into the top-two and be promoted. Hopefully we can do better than last year.
"It will be quite a challenge as there are a number of strong teams. Besides Indonesia and the Philippines, Uzbekistan and Iran are not bad while Singapore also has quite a few good players."
Hannah Yip, Soo Hui Yii, Elsa Wan Abdul Rahman, Iman Syuhada Abdullah and Joleen powered Malaysia to a best-ever third place finish in the Group II competition last year.
Joleen, 18, will later be heading to the United States in August as she has been accepted into the University of Pennsylvania where she will read economics while playing collegiate tennis.
"It is a really good Ivy League school and they are also in Division One (NCAA D1)," said Joleen.
"I believe going there will benefit both my tennis and my education."
Joleen added that she is looking to play in a number of ITF futures events before leaving for the US to earn herself a WTA ranking.
