Janice Tjen has spoken glowingly about Alexandra Eala after their meeting yesterday in São Paolo, with the former coming out on top.
This clash pitted two history-making Southeast Asians, who are doing remarkable, trailblazing things for their respective countries.
On one hand, Tjen is forging a new legacy, given that a select few top players have emerged from Indonesia in the past.
Meanwhile, Eala is a completely new commodity for the Philippines, and so with each passing tournament, she seems to create a new piece of history.
Clearly, the latter’s talent is renowned across the WTA Tour and beyond, with Tjen’s post-match comments emphasising that.
Janice Tjen reacts to beating Alexandra Eala in São Paolo
Speaking on court after beating Eala in two straightforward sets, Tjen began by assessing her level after reaching a career-first WTA semi-final.
She admitted: “It still feels unbelievable to me and still it hasn’t hit yet, but all I can say, I’m pretty happy with how I play today.”
Then asked what made the difference, the 23-year-old added: “I think just like focusing on every point because like, playing against somebody like Alex Eala, we all know that she can come back at any time and I’m just trying to focus and stay in it until the end.”
Tjen concluded by praising her serve, noting: “Erm, yeah, I mean, we’ve been working on it. It’s kind of nice that it’s starting to pay off, so, yeah.”
Eala was recently asked if she’d like women to play best-of-five sets at Grand Slams earlier this year, as people clamour to hear her opinion on such hot topics.
Who is Indonesian tennis star Janice Tjen?
Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, she began playing tennis from a very young age.
However, due to costs and a lack of facilities in her home country, Tjen’s family thought it best to enrol her in the American college system, starting with the University of Oregon, and later graduating from Pepperdine University.
There, she began to hone her skills, with 2025 marking the real breakthrough for Tjen.
Having just reached the semi-finals of the Sao Paolo Open, a few weeks after emerging through US Open qualifying to play and win her very first Grand Slam main draw match too, the last month has been revolutionary.
It feels like, with a strong end to the season, 2026 could be the year when Tjen truly announces herself as a tangible threat on the WTA Tour.
