Indonesian netter Janice Tjen made history for herself, as she showed her familiarity on hard court surfaces and fought her way to a 6-4, 6-1 upset of third seed Alex Eala on Saturday morning Manila time.
The 23-year old Tjen rallied from 0-3 down, and won 12 of her next 14 games in ousting the 20-year old Eala from the women’s singles quarterfinal action of the 2025 Sao Paolo Open Tennis Championships in Brazil.
The world no. 130 Tjen was done with Eala in 72 minutes, becoming the first one to advance to the semifinals.
Tjen, who played her second career tour-level event after qualifying for the US Open last month, became the first Indonesian to reach a WTA semifinal in 23 years.
In dropping out of the quarterfinals, Eala earned $6820, or around P389,930, and 54 WTA points.
“It still feels unbelievable to me, it still hasn’t hit yet,” said Tjen.
During their game, Tjen converted 13 points of 18 first serves, while Eala hacked out 15 points from 24 first serves.
The 5’9 Eala took an early 3-0 off her aggressive baseline game, with the third match coming her way off Tjen’s net error.
Tjen who has won 59 of 70 games on hard court surfaces, turned the tables on Eala as she took the next three games, for a 3-all tie, and winning the sixth game in the first set off a down-the-line passing shot.
After another deadlock at 4-all, Tjen won the last two games of the first set as, she attacked the net with her forehand volley, and off Eala net error.
Following a 1-all tie in the second set, Tjen got her footwork and rhythm going, and worked her way to a 5-1 spread.
In breaking Eala’s serve in the seventh game, Tjen’s power smash won the day with a power smash.
Eala, who won a seven matches after capturing her first WTA 125 title in the Guadalajara Open last week, was held to 15 unforced errors during the encounter.
