Jenis Tjene reaches Chennai Open 2026 semifinals, speaks on her success

According to a Sportstar report, 24-year-old Indonesian tennis player Jenis Tjene secured a place in the semifinals of the Chennai Open 2026 on Friday by defeating Polina Kudermetova. Tjene won against the Russian-born Uzbek player Kudermetova with a score of 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. Currently ranked 75th, Tjene is the top seed in this tournament and has returned to the city to defend her previous title.

Tjene's rapid progress has increased the craze for tennis in Indonesia. She stated that it has now become somewhat difficult to book tennis courts in Indonesia. It is noteworthy that Indonesia is primarily known for badminton, but Tjene's success has changed people's approach towards tennis there.

The year 2025 was very significant in Tjene's career. At the beginning of 2025, she was outside the top 400 in the WTA rankings, but by the end of the year, she had reached world number 56. During this journey, she ended a long 22-year wait for an Indonesian female player by securing a victory at the US Open. Additionally, she finished as the runner-up in the WTA 250 tournament in Sao Paulo and won her first tour-level title at the Chennai Open. In August, she achieved a career-high ranking of 35th.

Last year, Tjene dominated the ITF circuit, but this season has been about playing regularly on the WTA tour and adapting to high-level competition. Before arriving in Chennai, her win-loss record on the WTA tour was 16-28. Sharing her experiences, Tjene said, “I have learned a lot this year. Every player has their own expectations of how they will perform, and as a tennis player, that is normal. This is an important quality. It is necessary to do things one by one and learn to get back up, because the competition has been much higher for me this year.”

Tjene recently achieved a major milestone. Last week, she paired up with 46-year-old American legend Venus Williams in doubles and reached the semifinals of the Guangzhou Open. Venus Williams described this pairing as her best partnership of the year. Speaking on this, Tjene said, “One gets to learn a lot from someone like Venus. I was happy to hear what she said about our partnership. She is a very experienced and great player.”

On Venus's dedication to tennis, Tjene added, “It is very difficult. Her love for tennis is amazing. It is surprising that she is still playing even though she no longer needs to play tennis, and I do not know if I will be able to do that. We shall see.” In the semifinals, Tjene will now face either local wild card Maya Rajeshwaran Revathy or America's Robin Montgomery.