Janice Tjen shocks No. 24 seed Kudermetova at US Open, sets Raducanu showdown
A win two decades in the making
For the first time in 22 years, an Indonesian player won a Grand Slam singles match. Qualifier Janice Tjen, ranked No. 149, stunned 24th seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the opening round of the US Open, lighting up an afternoon on Court 13 and sending a jolt through the womens draw.
The result breaks a long drought stretching back to Angelique Widjajas first-round win at Wimbledon in 2003. Tjen, a 23-year-old from Jakarta who graduated from Pepperdine University this spring, is the first Indonesian to appear in a Grand Slam singles main draw since Widjaja played the 2004 US Open. On Sunday, she did more than show upshe outplayed a seeded opponent with poise that belied her inexperience at this level.
Tjen set the tone early. She broke twice in the first set, managed the scoreboard well, and blocked out the noise when Kudermetovas power started to bite. The Russian, a former top-10 singles player with one of the heavier baseline games on tour, steadied in the second set and forced a decider. Tjen answered with an immediate break to open the third, guarded the lead through a string of nervy deuce games, and shut the door with a love hold.
That last game didnt feel like a fluke. Tjen played within herself, used safe patterns under pressure, and rarely chased low-percentage shots. Kudermetova tried to increase the pace and shorten rallies, but Tjen didnt bite. She made one more ball, one more time, until the final forehand found the tape and flipped the match to the underdog.
The win marks Tjens first tour-level victory, in her first Grand Slam main draw. It also validates a whirlwind rise that started only months ago. Unranked as recently as May 2024, Tjen tore through the ITF circuit, winning 13 titles and 100 of her past 113 matches to vault into the top 150. She earned her US Open place the hard waythrough qualifying, three matches in three days against players who knew exactly how dangerous shed become.
For Indonesian tennis, this is more than a pleasant surprise. Its a reference point. The country has produced big moments in doubles in recent years and has a proud history in the sport, but singles breakthroughs have been scarce since the early 2000s. Many fans still remember Yayuk Basukis run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 1997 and Widjajas early promise. Tjens win brings that lineage forward to a new generationand onto one of the sports biggest stages.
Kudermetova, seeded 24th, is not an easy first-round assignment for anyone. Shes experienced, hits a heavy first ball, and usually punishes short replies. Tjen took the ball on her terms when it mattered, protected her serve in the final stretch, and isolated the Russians forehand under pressure. When the chances came, she didnt hesitate.
From college courts to a Raducanu showdown
Tjens path to Flushing Meadows is unusual only because it moved so fast. She spent the past few years at Pepperdine, balancing a sociology degree with college tennis, then jumped into the pros at full speed this year. By the time the summer hard-court swing arrived, she was winning almost every week on the lower circuits, stacking titles and confidence. Shes not a household name yet, but thats beginning to change.
Her next opponent makes this story even better. Tjen will face Emma Raducanu in the second roundthe 2021 US Open champion who famously came through qualifying herself to lift the trophy. Tjen said she watched that run from a college dorm, sidelined by injury, and used it as fuel. When Emma won the tournament and had 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, she said after her win. Just seeing her doing it makes me, like, inspired to be able to do it as well.
Its a neat full-circle matchup: a qualifier who once drew inspiration from Raducanu now gets to face her in the same arena, under the same lights, with the same stakes. Stylistically, Raducanu thrives on first-strike tennis, clean ball-striking, and taking time away. Tjen will need to keep her first-serve percentage high, avoid mid-court balls, and continue to pressure returns without overpressing. Nerves will matter. So will the crowd, which tends to get behind a good storyand this round offers two of them.
Beyond the tennis itself, the impact at home is real. Indonesian fans woke up to a scoreline they havent seen in more than two decades. Junior coaches and parents will clip this match and show it at practice. The message is simple: its possible. The modern pathwaycollege tennis, then the ITF grind, then a majorcan work, even from a country that sits outside the usual tennis hotbeds.
The victory also buys Tjen time. With ranking points and prize money in the bank, she can plan a smarter schedule, aim at WTA qualifying draws more often, and avoid the week-to-week scramble that traps many late bloomers. The experience of closing out a seeded player on a Grand Slam court is its own currency. You cant fake that. You earn it once, and it stays with you.
Kudermetova will leave New York frustrated. Her weapons are real, and on another day theyre enough to power through a first week. But this match was about Tjen managing moments. She kept rallies to patterns she liked, absorbed pace, and refused to give away cheap games. The final love hold captured the theme: calm in the one game when tension usually breaks players.
Theres also a practical ripple for the draw. With a seed out, the bottom half of that section opens up, and qualifying stories tend to feed on early upsets. If Tjen handles the quick turnaround, shell arrive against Raducanu with nothing to defend, nothing to lose, and more to gain than anyone expected a few months ago.
One match doesnt remake a career, and Tjen knows that. But you could see the habits of a player whos learned how to win, week after week, against opponents trying to pry open any weakness they can find. She didnt blink when Kudermetova raised her level in the second set. She reset, made a clean start in the third, and finished the job without looking over her shoulder.
For Indonesia, the numbers tell the story: 22 years without a singles main-draw win at a Slam, now broken by a player who, not long ago, didnt even have a ranking next to her name. For New York, its another Day 1 shock, the kind that reminds you why the US Open loves its underdogs. And for Tjen, its a first step into the spotlight shes been chasing since those long college days, watching matches on a laptop and wondering how far this game could take her.