Janice Tjen capped off her breakthrough 2025 season with a maiden WTA title after beating Kim Birrell 6-4 6-3 in the final of the WTA 250 tournament in Chennai.
The Indonesian tennis player, who started the week ranked at No. 82 in the world, blew an early first-set break before breaking 177th-ranked Birrell again in the seventh game and serving her way to taking the opener.
At the start of the second set, Birrell looked impacted by the way she lost the first set and Tjen took full advantage of it, claiming back-to-back breaks to open a comfortable 4-0 lead. While the Australian managed to get one break back, the 23-year-old Indonesian stayed composed and completed her win by registering her fifth break of the match in the ninth game of the second set.
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For Tjen, this was her eighth title of the year - she previously won seven Futures titles and one WTA 125 (Challenger) title. Last year, the Indonesian also won seven titles on the ITF Futures level.
12 months ago, the 23-year-old was barely ranked inside the top-600 in the world. Tomorrow, she will achieve a career-high ranking of No. 53 in the world and come close to breaking into the top-50 in the world.
Tjen's reaction to winning her maiden WTA title
"In my opinion, I played very well here, improving in every round, and today I was able to play my best tennis," the rising Indonesian said.
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Believe it or not, Tjen still has some job to do in Chennai since she also has the doubles final with Aldila Sutjiadi. They play against Storm Hunter and Monica Niculescu for the Channei women's doubles title.
