dpCINCINNATI — Janice Tjen doesn’t remember how much time she spent on court Sunday afternoon.
All she knows is that her second-round win over Viktorija Golubic took more than three hours.
“Something like that,” Tjen said with a laugh.
To be exact, Tjen defeated Golubic 7-6 (8), 5-7, 7-5 in 3 hours and 14 minutes. What the scoreline doesn’t tell you is that Tjen led 5-1 in the second set, and had five match points to potentially end her afternoon in straight sets. When she converted in the third set — after winning the final three games — she flailed her arms in relief.
“It was tough, definitely. 5-1 up, few match points in the second. Obviously things didn’t go the way that I wanted to in the second set,” Tjen said to wtatennis.com after the match. “In the third set, I just kept fighting until the end, and luckily it went my way.
“In the third set, I just forgot about (the match points). Just trying to find a way to win. I just already put that in the back of my mind and tried not to let that bother me.”
Tjen, No. 37 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz and Indonesia’s top ranked singles player, is into her first third round since Dubai where she reached the Round of 16.
It’s been a season of mixed results for Tjen, but she’s starting to find a rhythm back on the hard courts, her favorite surface that she was looking forward to returning to. Dubai was the last tournament she played three consecutive matches back.
“Definitely very, very excited to be playing on a familiar surface,” Tjen said. “I grew up on hard court, and I always play on hard court. I barely play on any other surface. Obviously, very, very excited to be finally back.”
“I would say it’s pretty smooth,” Tjen added on the transition back to the surface. “It was nothing too stressful or anything like that, so it was just very happy to be back on hard court.”
The clay and grass season was unfamiliar territory for Tjen. She did not compete on either surface at all during the 2025 season, where she mainly played World Tennis/ITF tournaments. She made her Roland Garros and Wimbledon debuts over the summer, exiting in the first and second rounds, respectively.
After Wimbledon, Tjen made a pitstop back to Indonesia for a break before resuming her season in Washington D.C. She said she doesn’t go home that often, given the tour isn’t near Indonesia aside from the Australian and Asian Swings, and traveling to and from her country would be difficult on a regular basis.
Tjen was pleasantly surprised on the growth of tennis in her country, and Southeast Asia as a whole. Indonesia currently has a top 40 singles player in Tjen and a top 30 doubles player in Aldila Sutjiadi.
While back home, Tjen went “undercover,” enjoying tennis communities first-hand in her country, but she didn’t want to know anyone who she was, going under the alias “Brenda.”
“I spent two weeks at home after Wimbledon. Just seeing how much the tennis community has grown, it was definitely a big surprise for me. Definitely a nice thing to see.”
Now in Cincinnati, Tjen is in the last 32 in her debut at the tournament. It’s been an adjustment though as the courts have been a bit slick with the warmer temperatures.
“I would say it’s a bit skiddy for me,” Tjen said. “I like a bit like higher, bouncy court a bit better. The conditions also — I guess everyone’s also been challenged with how hot and humid it is. It’s definitely not the easiest, but at least we’re back on hard court.”
Tjen has a top 10 matchup awaiting for her as she’ll face Mirra Andreeva on Tuesday.
“Definitely excited to get another chance to play against a top 10 player especially on hard court,” Tjen said. “I haven’t thought so much about it. I’ve just been trying to recover, but rest well and I’ll see how it goes when a time comes.”
