Indonesian sensation Janice Tjen takes down Leylah Fernandez at Australian Open in straight sets

Tuesday, 20 January 2026 at 03:30

In the house that Ashleigh Barty built, a player who has been described as one who has mirrored the game style of the famous Aussie has thrived and that is Janice Tjen who has taken down Leylah Fernandez in straight sets to begin Tuesday at the Australian Open.

It was a superb 6-2, 7-6 win for the Indonesian sensation who made light work in the first set at least of the former US Open finalist who is 22nd seed albeit this tie was perhaps one of the toughest draws on paper when it came to the women's draw overall.

The 23-year-old reached World No.53 in the WTA rankings in November and her coaches predicted that the best was yet to come as she went from being a player touted as a danger in facing Emma Raducanu just a few months back to winning her first game at the Australian Open.

That improvement was on full evidence as she saw off Fernandez on Tuesday at the Australian Open. The 22nd seed was bounced in just one hour and 43 minutes. Tjen finished with four aces, 17 winners, six double faults and 27 unforced errors.

Tjen dominates

While Fernandez had two aces, 16 winners, five double faults and 28 unforced errors in defeat. Fernandez had two out of eight break points and two out of 10 return games won while Tjen was a lot more clinical on each side of the serve as she won four out of seven break points and won four out of 10 return games. She now moves on to face a former Grand Slam finalist or Grand Slam winner.

That being Karolina Pliskova or Sloane Stephens in another tie like Tjen v Fernandez that in being picked out of the first round hat isn't exactly good for either player and in facing a fired up Tjen next who very much is on the rise, it might be curtains for one of those two en route to a third round spot for the Indonesian.

With Marina Stakusic going out in a wheelchair against Priscilla Hon and Bianca Andreescu instead winning tournaments in America on the ITF tour, it means that Victoria Mboko now sits flying the flag for Canadian women's tennis in the singles draw.

Elsewhere so far on Tuesday, Varvara Gracheva took down Viktorija Golubic 6-1, 2-6, 6-1, Ashlyn Krueger defeated Sara Bejlek easily 6-3, 6-3.

While there were also wins for Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 6-2 and also a blow for Aussie tennis as Maya Joint was beaten but Taylah Preston won through against Shuai Zhang. Defending champion Madison Keys is on the verge of winning her opener though on Rod Laver Arena with Elena Rybakina still to come shortly.

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Indonesian sensation Janice Tjen records her first-ever AO main-draw win with an upset over Leylah Fernandez 🇮🇩 #AO26

1:51 AM · Jan 20, 2026

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