Janice Tjen speaks softly, carries big slice to make history again for Indonesia at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia—With each milestone Janice Tjen earns, the rising Indonesian star makes a little bit of history.

The 23-year-old became the first from her country to win an Australian Open main-draw match in 28 years on Tuesday, dismissing former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, 6-2, 7-6 (1).

“I’m very happy to be a part of history and to be able to get a win here for Indonesia,” she told me during her post-match press conference. “I think it was special, especially to do it in front of my family here. There were a lot of Indonesians and a lot of close friends also here.”

The soft-spoken Tjen first broke onto the tennis scene last summer when she reached the second round of the US Open as a qualifier, becoming the first Indonesian to make it that far at a major since Angelique Widjaja in 2004. Armed with an athletic game and lethal backhand slice, the former Pepperdine University standout went even further back in time to beat Fernandez, becoming the first to win a round Down Under since Yayuk Basuki in 1998.

“It was crazy, I would say, having that feeling” she said of the enthusiastic fan energy on ANZ Arena, which was reminiscent of what the Philippines’ Alexandra Eala experienced on Court 6 yesterday. “I thought getting the chants of “Indonesia!” was something special for me. It feels a lot quite like home, and just knowing that a lot of Indonesians came out today to support me means a lot.”

Ranked outside the Top 400 this time last year, Tjen is closing in on a Top 50 debut, reaching two WTA finals last fall and winning her maiden title in Chennai, India.

“I get recognized a little bit here and there,” she shyly admitted. “It’s nice, a nice feeling. I wouldn’t say that it changed my life completely but my life is still the same. I’m a simple person!”

Studying sociology because it helped her lean more about herself, Tjen has become an expert at channeling a partisan crowd to victory, navigating Fernandez’s tricky game to edge through a second-set tiebreaker and score her first win of the season.

“I think when I start feeling my energy drop a little bit, I know that they’re behind me and supporting me no matter what. I think that helps a lot.”

Wearing a lime green Asics jacket, Tjen appears keen on letting her tennis—and not her growing national celebrity—do the talking.

“I try to have a tunnel vision and just focus on being the best version of myself.”

Looking to make a debut appearance in a Grand Slam third round, Tjen will next face former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, who edged past former US Open champion Sloane Stephens for her first wins since September.