Janice Tjen kept the Southeast Asian dream alive in Melbourne, being the last one standing after beating Leylah Fernandez in the first round of the Australian Open.
SEA Games bronze medalist Janice Tjen kept the banner of Southeast Asia flying high after she broke through to the second round of the Australian Open, drubbing world no. 23 Leylah Fernandez, 6-2, 7-6(1), in Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
Tjen, who joined Alex Eala as two of the four Southeast Asians in the main draw of the women’s singles in the first Grand Slam of the year, stunned the Fil-Canadian netter in a match that lasted an hour and 45 minutes.
She marched on to the next round where she faces the winner between USA’s Sloane Stephens and Karolina Plíšková.
In the first set, Tjen broke through with a pivotal break on Fernandez’ serve which broke a 2-2 tie, swinging momentum to her side to string together four straight game wins to gain the upper hand on the former US Open finalist, 6-2.
Then she needed to buck a bigger challenge in the second set, after Fernandez held her serve to gain the 4-3 advantage in the hopes of forcing the third set.
But even as Fernandez held her serve on love which pushed her ahead, 6-5, later in the set, Tjen was a tough nut to crack as she held her own serve to tie the set at 6-all and force the tiebreak.
She then dominated Fernandez in the tiebreak, 7-1 to seal what is arguably her biggest career win.
Apart from Eala, fellow Southeast Asians Mananchaya Sawangkaew and Lanlana Tararudee were also booted out in the first round of women’s singles.
Still, the Filipina will be representing the region in women’s doubles as she plays later Tuesday with Brazil’s Ingrid Martins against Magda Linette and Shuko Aoyama.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.