Australian Open juniors the goal for Daania

KUALA LUMPUR: Promising junior tennis player Daania Hazli is on the right path towards earning a coveted spot at the Australian Open juniors next year.

Daania has shown positive form so far this season, winning an ITF J60 doubles title, partnering Zhang Bojia (China), in Chengdu earlier this month, where she also reached the singles final.

The 15-year-old also led Malaysia to a ninth place finish from 16 nations in the Billie Jean King Cup (BJKC) final qualifying round in Uzbekistan last week.

She reached a career-high ranking of No. 477 earlier this month.

Her father-cum-coach Hazli Zainuddin is expecting her to continue climbing up the ITF junior rankings this year.

“Daania has had a good run so far this year, she beat a number of higher-ranked players in BJKC and won most of her matches,” said Hazli recently.

“But our main goal for this season is to get her into next year’s Australian Open juniors.

“And to do that she needs to be ranked in the top-150 by the end of the year. Once the current 18-year-olds leave the system next year, it should be enough to qualify.

“She still has some way to go so this will be a challenge for us but based on her recent performances, I believe she has the potential to make it.”

Hazli, who is former national team head coach, added that Daania will focus on playing higher-grade ITF events in the second half of the year to earn more ranking points.

No Malaysian player has competed in a junior grand slam event since Christian Didier Chin in 2018 (Australian Open, French Open).

© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd

المصدر: New Straits Times