Emma Raducanu’s next opponent – 9 facts about game changer Janice Tjen
Janice Tjen created one of the fairy tale stories of the first round at the US Open as she beat 24th seed Veronika Kudermetova to win her first match on a Grand Slam stage and now she has set up a dream second round clash with 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu.
Tjen admitted she was inspired by Raducanu’s amazing win at Flushing Meadows four years ago, as the teenager came through qualifying and won ten matches to take the title without dropping a set.
Young Tjen was watching from Pepperdine University in California, where she was a sociology student and last Sunday, she became the first Indonesian player for more than 20 years to win a Grand Slam singles match.
“When Emma won the tournament and (was) having an incredible run here, I was actually in college, and I was injured at the time, so I got to watch a lot of tennis,” said Tjen.
“Just seeing her doing it made me inspired to be able to do it, as well. Emma is very big. Everyone loves Emma at home. She’s a very well known player, and I’m just excited for the opportunity.”
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The tennis world will be watching when Raducanu takes on Tjen on Wednesday and here are ten big facts around a player who will achieve a career high ranking if she can beat Raducanu:
* Tjen is bidding to become the first Indonesian player, man or woman, to reach the singles 3rd round at a Grand Slam since 2000 Wimbledon, when Yayuk Basuki reached the 3rd round.
* She advanced to the 2nd round after defeating No. 24 seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the 1st round on Sunday for her first WTA Tour-level match-win and her first match-win against a top 100 opponent.
* By reaching the 2nd round of the main draw, Tjen has become the first Indonesian player, man or woman, to reach the singles 2nd round at a Grand Slam since 2003 Wimbledon, when Angelique Widjaja reached the 2nd round.
* By qualifying for the main draw, Tjen became the first Indonesian player, man or woman, to compete in the singles main draw at a Grand Slam since the 2004 US Open, when Widjaja made her final Grand Slam singles appearance.
* Tjen defeated No. 22 seed Varvara Lepchenko from America 6-3, 6-1, Maja Chwalinska from Poland 7-5, 7-5 and No. 3 seed Aoi Ito from Japan 6-1, 6-2 in the 3 rounds of US Open qualifying last week to qualify for the main draw at a Grand Slam on her first attempt. It was her first appearance at a Grand Slam in qualifying or otherwise.
* Tjen leads the ITF World Tennis Tour for most women’s singles titles in 2025 with six. She also led the ITF World Tennis Tour for most women’s singles titles in 2024 with seven, despite only competing from June onwards.
* Tjen competed in four professional events between June 2019 and June 2024 – one appearance for Indonesia in Billie Jean King Cup competition in March 2020 and 3 ITF World Tennis Tour events in California, USA in June-October 2022.
* Tjen played college tennis in the US, representing the University of Oregon in 2020-21 and Pepperdine University in 2021-24. She was the 2024 NCAA Women’s Doubles Runner-up alongside Savannah Broadus.
* Tjen broke inside the WTA Top 200 for the first time on 14 July at No 199. She reached a career-high ranking of No 147 on 18 August and is currently ranked at No. 149 having begun 2025 ranked at No 412.
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