US Open: Two Southeast Asian female tennis players advance to round 2, creating historic milestone

In the first round of the US Open 2025, which took place on the night of August 24 and the morning of August 25, Southeast Asian tennis continued to demonstrate its breakthrough on the international stage. In the women's singles event, Southeast Asia had two faces and both won the right to advance to the second round of the tournament.

Notably, Indonesian tennis player Janice Tjen has written a milestone for her country's tennis when she became the first player in 22 years to win a Grand Slam tournament. She also officially raised her name internationally and regionally.

The world No. 149 player from Indonesia caused a big surprise when defeating the Russian No. 24 seed Veronika Kudermetova 2-1 (6-4, 4-6, 6-4) after more than 2 hours of intense competition. This is also the first singles win of Indonesia at a Grand Slam since senior Angelique Widjaja in 2003.

Eala (left) and Tjen affirm the strength of Southeast Asian women's tennis in the first round of the 2025 US Open

Angelique defeated another Russian player, Evgenia Borisovna Kulikovskaya, 7-5, 6-1 in the first round, but lost to Nadia Petrova (Russia) 6-7, 3-6 in the second round.

Ranked 149th in the world, Janice Tjen became the "dark horse" of the tournament when she defeated Kudermetova, seeded 24th. In the second round, Tjen will face British idol Emma Raducanu - the 2021 US Open champion.

"I'm excited for this opportunity, it's definitely going to be a big crowd game," Tjen said.

Before that, Tjen had qualified and attracted attention when he won against two players with big rankings and differences, Aoi Ito (86, Japan) and Varvara Lepchenko (USA, 122).

Also in this opening round of the 2025 US Open, Southeast Asia also has another representative, Alex Eala.

The Filipino tennis player made history in her country by becoming the first person to win a Grand Slam singles event in the Open era, after defeating world No. 14 Clara Tauson 2-1 (6-3, 2-6, 7-6).

After the two sides tied 1-1, Eala won the opening game of the third set but Tauson quickly broke away and led 5-1 thanks to powerful serves and returns.

Backed into a corner, the Rafael Nadal Academy graduate gradually narrowed the gap, then took a 6-5 lead. Determination helped Eala win the final tie-break.

After the match, Eala expressed: "Oh my god, it was really difficult. She is a great player, very excellent, it was not easy in the first round. I just thought I had to give it my all, both physically and mentally."

Source: https://nld.com.vn/us-open-hai-tay-vot-nu-dong-nam-a-tien-vao-vong-2-tao-cot-moc-lich-su-196250825132525391.htm