Give Janice Tjen Time and Space

Indonesia's tennis has a new star in the professional arena, Janice Tjen. In 2025, the 23-year-old tennis player gained a wealth of first-time experiences.

She appeared in the Grand Slam and WTA Tour arenas, winning the WTA 250 tournament, and ranking in the 50s in the world. These moments were achieved in her first year in the WTA Tour competition, specifically since August.

Janice ranked 56th in the latest 2025 edition of the rankings released by the WTA on Monday (29/12/2025). Her position soared from 411th at the beginning of the year.

There were many positive moments experienced throughout this year. For the first time, the tennis player born in Jakarta on May 6, 2002, appeared in a Grand Slam arena, the highest level of competition in professional tennis. She competed in the US Open tournament in New York from August 24 to September 7, progressing from the qualifying rounds to the second round. The 2021 US Open women's singles champion, Emma Raducanu, defeated her.

In the WTA Tour arena, her best result was when she won the women's singles and doubles at the WTA 250 Chennai, from October 27 to November 2. In the doubles event, Janice partnered with her senior, Aldila Sutjiadi.

Janice broke into the Grand Slam as the 149th-ranked tennis player, a position she achieved through a series of championship titles from ITF tournaments. The ITF circuit for women, which is ranked below the WTA Tour, consists of W15, W35, W50, W75, and W100 levels, from the lowest to the highest. From June 2024 to August 2025, Janice won 13 out of 26 tournaments in the singles category.

June 2024 marks the moment of Janice's return to professional tennis, which she entered in 2018. Janice chose a different path to hone her skills, namely through university tennis competitions in the United States.

She studied at the University of Oregon from 2020 to 2021, then transferred to Pepperdine University (2021-2024). In 2022, Janice participated in three ITF tournaments held in California, the same state where she studied, but afterward, she took a break from professional competition.

Thanks to the support of her university coach, Janice has returned to the professional arena with various positive results. Her best position in the world ranking is 53rd, which she held from November 3 to December 8, 2025. Janice became Indonesia's second-best women's singles player after Yayuk Basuki, who was ranked 19th on October 6, 1997.

Janice has become a source of pride for Indonesia, especially since there are not many "Red and White" tennis players who consistently compete in the professional arena. Before Janice, the number of tennis players actively competing at the professional level could be counted on one hand, including Jessy Rompies and Beatrice Gumulya.

Aldila, who has focused on doubles since 2023, has been at the forefront by reaching the semifinals in mixed doubles at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. In women's doubles, the 30-year-old player reached the third round in all Grand Slam tournaments.

There are fewer male tennis players who regularly compete professionally. Christopher Rungkat is arguably the only active player.

As a professional sport, tennis requires its athletes to self-fund all their needs throughout the competition season. Not only during tournaments, but there are also many expenses that must be covered in preparation.

During practice, tennis players must rent courts and purchase balls. Other needs include nutritious food, vitamins, medical treatment for injuries, a coach, and a suitable sparring partner.

In 2023, Aldila stated that the annual cost to participate in the WTA Tour is around 75,000 to 100,000 US dollars (approximately 1.2 billion to 1.6 billion rupiah). This amount can double when the player is accompanied by a coach and will be even greater if there are more team members.

Based on that, Indonesian tennis players choose the path through universities in the United States to develop themselves. Only after maturing do they enter the professional arena.

They are looking for universities that offer scholarship programs for athletes, and the United States has many universities with such programs. This is because the country has a competitive sports competition, the NCAA. Many athletes from various disciplines enter the professional arena through the NCAA.

"I am accustomed to being under pressure when competing in university tennis. It has taught me to solve problems in difficult positions," said Janice while participating in the WTA 250 tournament in Chennai, India, from October 27 to November 2, her last WTA Tour tournament in 2025.

Indonesia is proud of Janice's achievements; however, this is just the beginning for the gold medalist in women's doubles at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games (alongside Aldila). Janice is not overly focused on statistics at the start of her journey in the WTA Tour.

"My journey this year has been unexpected, but my coach and I are not overly focused on rankings and things like that. We just want to continue to improve, to be better compared to the early period of our collaboration," Janice stated on the official WTA website.

Janice is coached by Chris Bint, an Englishman who is the New Zealand national tennis coach. They met while Janice was participating in a tournament in New Zealand in December 2024. According to The Athletic, they added a fitness coach from Pepperdine University and a physiotherapist from Indonesia to the team.

In her Instagram account, Bint praised Janice for her willingness to work hard and be disciplined as she requested. These two qualities, combined with the effort to enjoy every moment, are factors that Bint has always asked for and that Janice is able to implement.

This year, Janice is only able to participate in the WTA 250, the lowest level in the WTA Tour. With a world ranking in the 50s, she has the opportunity to compete at higher levels, namely WTA 500 and 1000, and to directly enter the main draw of the Grand Slam in 2026.

At that phase, all the abilities that have brought her to her current position will truly be tested. Janice may encounter elite world tennis players, even in the early rounds.

He will face that challenge with higher expectations, including from external parties, such as tennis fans or the media. Moreover, in the digital era, everyone can express their opinions through social media, without any filter.

"I must work hard and be consistent because I believe that with hard work, I can achieve good results," said Janice in facing the high expectations from those around her.

She stated this during an event with one of her sponsors, BCA, in Jakarta, in mid-November. The WTA Tour break until the end of the year is being used for a vacation in Indonesia, participating in the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand—Janice won a gold medal in the women's team and women's doubles events—and undergoing training in preparation for the 2026 competition season.

Janice is able to view the expectations of others from a positive perspective, using it as motivation to continue growing, step by step. However, this is not as easy as turning one's hand over.

High expectations from others (and oneself) can lead to negative impacts when they become a burden. Sloane Stephens, Jelena Ostapenko, and even Raducanu have struggled to maintain their performance after winning Grand Slam titles. Stephens was the champion of the US Open in 2017, while Ostapenko won the French Open in the same year.

Stephens cannot cope with the public and media scrutiny that tends to have its own standards, namely that a Grand Slam champion is a great tennis player and "must" win again in subsequent tournaments.

Raducanu has had a different experience. Media glorification, especially in England, has made her busier with activities outside of tennis after winning the 2021 US Open. She more frequently attends events related to sponsorship, fashion, and is immersed in the world of celebrity, leaving her with insufficient time to develop her skills on the tennis court.

After the 2021 US Open, her best results in Grand Slam events have only been reaching the third round at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the 2025 US Open. This means that Raducanu has been eliminated more frequently in the early rounds. The 23-year-old athlete has not reached another final since becoming the champion in New York in 2021.

Amid greater scrutiny over the past six months, Janice "only" needs to focus and move forward step by step. Moreover, she can concentrate on improving her level in technical, physical, and mental aspects as the needs related to sponsorship searches will be assisted by the International Management Group (IMG).

The company, headquartered in New York, operates in the fields of sports, fashion, and media. In the world of sports, one of its roles is to assist potential athletes in securing sponsorships.

Therefore, when Janice carries out her duty to elevate Indonesia's name in the world of tennis, we must support her without excessive expectations, without surpassing the process that the athlete will undergo.