Janice Tjen Stuns Tennis World: Indonesian Rising Star Rockets into WTA Top 50 After Record-Breaking Season

Dubai — Indonesian tennis sensation Janice Tjen keeps rewriting her country’s record books as she heads into the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Fresh off entering the top-50 for the first time at No. 46 in the latest WTA rankings, the 23-year-old will open her campaign against Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska in Monday’s first round. The Jakarta native burst onto the tour last season by winning the 2025 Chennai Open, becoming the first Indonesian woman to capture a WTA singles title since Angelique Widjaja two decades earlier. That breakthrough was followed by three doubles trophies and a string of hard-court quarter-finals that catapulted her up the standings. Tjen’s rapid rise is powered by a fearless baseline game and one of the tour’s most effective two-handed backhands. In 2026 she owns victories over top-30 opponents Amanda Anisimova and Beatriz Haddad Maia, proof that her heavy topspin translates against elite pace. Coaches also credit an improved first-serve percentage—up seven points year-over-year—for helping her close out tight sets. Monday’s clash with Yastremska pits two of the tour’s hardest hitters on Dubai’s quick DecoTurf. A win would likely earn Tjen a second-round showdown with No. 8 seed Ons Jabeur, a marquee stage that could accelerate her push toward a projected Olympic debut in Paris later this year. Beyond the headline rankings milestone, Tjen is chasing history on multiple fronts. She needs just three more main-draw victories to surpass Widjaja’s single-season wins record by an Indonesian player, and another deep run could lift her inside the top-40 before the March swing in Indian Wells and Miami. Indonesian tennis has waited years for a new standard-bearer; with booming groundstrokes, unwavering composure and a growing global fanbase, Janice Tjen now looks poised to carry the Merah-Putih flag deep into the sport’s biggest arenas—starting this week under the lights of Dubai.