Janice Tjen's Provisions and Challenges

Janice Tjen's journey at the US Open Grand Slam came to an end in the second round. Competing against top-ranked players in a large stadium provided an experience for the Indonesian women's singles player as she prepares for her next tour in the professional tennis arena.

After winning three qualifying matches and defeating the world number 26 ranked player Veronika Kudermetova in the first round, Janice received the biggest opportunity of her career as a professional tennis player since 2018. Janice played against Emma Raducanu in the second round on Wednesday (27/8/2025) and lost with a score of 2-6, 1-6.

The US Open is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments held after the other three tournaments, namely the Australian Open, the French Open, and Wimbledon. This hard court Grand Slam takes place at Flushing Meadows, New York, which features the largest tennis stadium in the world, Arthur Ashe, with a capacity of 24,000 spectators.

Raducanu is an English tennis player ranked 36th in the world. Her position at the 2025 US Open is not seeded, but Raducanu is the champion of this tournament in 2021. Like Tjen, Raducanu entered the 2021 US Open as a qualifying player. The athlete of Romanian and Chinese descent became a "darling" at the US Open.

With this journey, Raducanu received Louis Armstrong Stadium as her venue for the second round, and Janice also had the opportunity to participate. The stadium, named after the famous jazz musician who lived in Queens, New York, is the second largest stadium in Flushing Meadows with a capacity of 14,000 spectators.

When Janice and Raducanu played, the seats in the stadium were not fully occupied, but it remained a rare opportunity for the 23-year-old tennis player. Players who can perform in two major stadiums are specific players, such as seeded players, local athletes, or players deemed capable of attracting a large audience, of course, alongside their opponents.

Janice struggled to play aggressively as she did against Kudermetova. She lost in almost all statistical indicators of the match, except for net shots. Janice scored points from all six net shots (100 percent), while Raducanu's success rate for this shot was 33 percent (one point from the shot).

However, this tactic wasn't enough to defeat Raducanu, who hit 16 winners (eight of them aces). She also broke her opponent's serve four times. Janice lost the match, which lasted exactly one hour.

"He played very well, defeating strong players in the qualifiers and seeds in the first round. I am confident that he can build his confidence from this week's performance. I look forward to our next meeting," commented Raducanu about Janice.

In the upcoming match, Raducanu will face the ninth seed, Elena Rybakina. To compete against the 2022 Wimbledon champion, Raducanu carries confidence from her performances against the world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, at Wimbledon and the WTA 1000 Cincinnati this year.

Raducanu lost in both matches but was able to put up a strong fight, one of which was a defeat of 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-7 (5) in the second round of the WTA Cincinnati, two weeks before the US Open.

Meanwhile, Janice's journey will continue as she aims to advance in the competition of professional women's tennis. With a ranking of 149 at the start of the US Open, Janice is participating in lower-level professional tournaments within the ITF championship calendar. The six levels of the World Tennis Tour (WTT) in the ITF women's tournaments are below the WTA Tour, which consists of WTA 250, 500, and 1000.

Janice, born in Jakarta on May 6, 2022, received her first title at the ITF junior circuit tournament in 2016 in the girls' doubles category, followed by the girls' singles title the following year. She began competing in professional tournaments in 2018.

The substantial costs required to pursue a professional tour led Janice's parents, as her primary supporters in her career, to choose the university tennis route. She attended the University of Oregon and then transferred to Pepperdine University in 2021, graduating in 2024 with a degree in sociology.

Becoming a university tennis player, Janice's skills were honed in the NCAA, an intercollegiate sports competition in America. The competitive nature of the rivalry makes the NCAA a platform for talent scouts and sponsors in targeting talented athletes.

In an interview following her victory in the first round of the US Open, Janice stated that college tennis has shaped her to become a better person and athlete.

After graduating from college, Janice returned to professional tennis as advised by her coach at the university. Aldila Sutjiadi, an Indonesian tennis player actively competing in the WTA Tour in doubles, is among those who support Janice in continuing her career in professional tournaments. Like a sister, Aldila looks after and shares her experiences with Janice.

Janice returned to the tournament without a ranking and competed at the lowest level of the ITF W15 Minatsir, Tunisia, in June 2024. Since then, she has won 13 titles from 22 finals.

While participating in three tournaments in New Zealand in December 2024, Janice met Chris Bint, an Englishman who is the national tennis coach of New Zealand. He also coaches Vivian Yang, a Pepperdine alumnus who is also a friend of Janice.

As reported in The Athletic, Bint followed Janice during four tournaments in South Korea in April and May 2025. Janice secured two titles from three finals.

Convinced by Janice's performance, Bint resigned from his job in New Zealand to train the athlete from Jakarta. His focus was on developing service accuracy and elevating skill levels in net play. They analyzed the games of prominent names, namely Ash Barty, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Carlos Alcaraz.

Another factor that received attention is Janice's nutrition and rest patterns. They also added a physical trainer from Pepperdine to the team, as well as a physiotherapist from Indonesia. During breaks in training, Janice and her coach play video games such as Mario Kart and Monopoly Deal.

The journey with the coaching team has allowed Janice to experience her first appearance on the Grand Slam stage. She became the first Indonesian tennis player in the singles category to compete in a Grand Slam since Angelique Widjaja played at the US Open in 2004. The victory over Kudermetova made Janice the Indonesian singles player who won a Grand Slam match after Angelique's victory in the first round of Wimbledon in 2003.

"I am proud to be able to make history for Indonesia. I hope this achievement can inspire Indonesian junior tennis players to believe that they too can compete in the Grand Slam," said Janice to Kompas in an interview through a WTA representative.

The increase in ranking points and a cash prize of around Rp 2.5 billion serve as capital for Janice to embark on her next journey with greater targets and challenges. If she can break into the WTA Tour, Indonesia will have Janice's name alongside Aldila's on the WTA Tour.