NEW YORK – Janice Tjen won the first singles championship for an Indonesian player in a 22-year Grand Slam Championship and played a second round against the U.S. Open champion, one of her inspirations: Emma Raducanu.
Tjen was frustrated in 2 hours, 11 minutes of No. 24 seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. She went on to face the 2021 U.S. Open title, who won the qualifying tournament before winning the Flushing Meadows title.
That's where Tjen, 23, won his place in the field, becoming the first player to play singles in Indonesia since the 2004 U.S. Open Angelique Widjaja. Widjaja is also the last player in Indonesia to win the Grand Slam and won the game in Wimbledon in 2003.
“When Emma won the game and was doing well here, I was actually in college and was injured at the time, so I had to watch a lot of tennis,” Tjen said. “Just seeing her do it would be inspired to do that, and to be able to do it.”
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Tjen played tennis in Oregon and completed her career at Pepperdine, where she became the NCAA doubles runner-up in 2024. After graduating from a sociology degree last spring, she weighed whether to try a professional competition.
“I think I’ve been thinking about whether I should do this; if not. “So I believe them, I’m here. ”
Tjen entered the game 55-10 this year and participated in the low-level competition. From May to July, she won 27 consecutive ITF games, including five championships.
Tjen resumed the game with a 3-1 lead in the second game on Sunday, ending the game with a nice backhand shot at the match point and falling to her knee near the network.
Her victory came on the same day that Alexandra Eala became the first player to win the Grand Slam in the Philippines, defeating No. 14 seed Clara Tauson 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11).
“Growing up in the same area, we will meet a lot of each other in the same competition,” Erra said of Tjen. “I can't spend a lot of time with her lately. I know she's in college. Now she's playing professionals and doing well. I'm so happy for her and it's so nice to see the person you've grown up in the same person-at the biggest stage in the world.”
Tjen made another attempt in the next round – possibly a bigger phase for the popular Raducanu.
“It's going to be – well, my first thought is, it's going to be a bunch of people, I'll say, a bunch of people against her,” Tjen said. “She's a very famous player and I'm excited about this opportunity.”
ESPN Research and the Associated Press contributed to the report.