Of the 12 players who successfully made it through US Open qualifying last week, Indonesia’s Janice Tjen garnered some of the most attention.
The 23-year-old’s rise since graduating from Pepperdine University with a degree in sociology last year had been meteoric. Unranked last May, Tjen won 100 out of 113 matches over the next 16 months to rise to No. 149 this week, sweeping up 13 ITF titles in the process. But her opener against No. 25 seed Veronika Kudermetova represented another step up in level. It was not only Tjen’s tour-level debut, but the first time she’d ever faced a Top 50 opponent.
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Tjen responded brilliantly, upsetting Kudermetova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 despite losing a break lead in the second set, and setting up a popcorn second-round encounter with Emma Raducanu. The seventh Indonesian woman to compete in a Grand Slam main draw in the Open Era, Tjen also snapped a long drought for her country at this level of the sport, becoming:
- The first Indonesian woman to win a Grand Slam match since Angelique Widjaja at Roland Garros 2023
- The first Indonesian woman to defeat a Top 30 player since Widjaja’s defeat of Patty Schnyder at Indian Wells 2003
- The first Indonesian woman to win a US Open main-draw match since Widjaja’s defeat of Anna Kournikova in the 2002 first round
- If Tjen beats Raducanu, she will be the first Indonesian woman to reach the third round of a major since former No. 19 Yayuk Basuki at Wimbledon 2000.
“I feel proud to be able to do this for my country,” Tjen told press afterwards. “Hopefully like this, by me making appearance here, will inspire more tennis player — like, younger kids to play tennis and also believing that they can be here too.”
Growing up in Jakarta, Tjen got her start in tennis by accident. Her friend, Priska Nugroho — then one of the country’s top juniors, and the 2020 Australian Open girls’ doubles champion with Alexandra Eala — persuaded her to try the sport. Tjen’s parents quickly acquiesced.
“My parents were just like, ‘Yeah, just go play the sport, just having exercise,’ so I’m not going to be in my room just doing nothing,” Tjen recalled with a smile.
Tjen patterned her game after a former World No. 1
Against Kudermetova, Tjen excelled with a throwback game style that’s become all too rare in tennis: sliced backhands, a powerful forehand with which she struck a slew of lethal angled winners and an eagerness to get to the net, where she won 20 out of 30 points.
“Me and my coach have been working on that,” Tjen said with satisfaction afterwards. “Just making sure that if it is a 50/50, we’re going in, coming into the net. And I would say we have a pretty good percentage of winning up at the net, so we would want to make more appearance up there.”
It’s all reminiscent of none other than former World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, who retired in 2022 — and it’s no surprise that Tjen has consciously patterned her game after the three-time major champion.
“I have been hearing that a lot,” Tjen said. “She’s, I would say, my role model. I would watch a little bit of her matches and try to copy what works for me, what’s not, and just trying to understand her game a little bit more.”
Tjen and Eala are both making history for south-east Asia in New York
On a strong day for south-east Asian tennis, Tjen’s breakthrough was mirrored by none other than her former junior rival Eala, who delivered Day 1’s only other seeded upset, knocking out No. 14 Clara Tauson in a Grandstand barnburner. Eala, the first Filipina to win a Grand Slam main-draw match in the Open Era, remembered Tjen well from their junior rivalry.
“Janice is super nice,” the 20-year-old told press. “I’ve known her for quite a long time. Growing up in the same region, we would run into each other a lot in the same tournaments. You know, I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time with her recently. I know she was in college. I’m so happy for her, and it’s nice to see someone that you grew up with in the biggest stages in the world.”
Eala had the narrow edge in their 2018-19 junior days, leading their head-to-head at that level 2-1.
Tjen was encouraged by her college coaches and a fellow Indonesian player
Going pro was never an automatic decision for Tjen. After finishing with juniors, the travel costs involved meant that she and her parents opted for the college tennis pathway — which she feels paid off after her coaches at Pepperdine University helped to develop her game. And after spending her college career contemplating whether or not she should turn pro, they were also instrumental in encouraging her.
“The coaches at Pepperdine told me I think you should give it a try, at least for two years,” she said. “So I trust them, and here I am!”
The only other Indonesian player at the US Open — doubles No. 48 Aldila Sutjiadi — was also a key figure in Tjen’s emergence.
“I am really, really close with Aldila,” Tjen said. “She’s always been like a good older sister to me, taking care of me, guiding me, and telling me, ‘This is what you need to do.’ She’s also one of the people that convinced me that I should give it a try. It’s very nice to be around another Indonesian here.”
In her spare time, Tjen is a Mario Kart fan
Tennis isn’t Tjen’s only competitive endeavor. In her downtime, she and her coach continue to battle hard — playing Mario Kart.
“We’ve been grinding on that one,” she told press.
Only one on the video game’s characters will do for Tjen, though — the green dinosaur Yoshi.
“I’ve been into Mario Kart since I was reall young, and it’s always my go-to character,” she said. “I would be a little bit not happy if somebody took that. I would be like, ‘Nope, that’s my character.’”