What Janice Tjen said inspired her about Emma Raducanu before facing her at the US Open earlier this year.

Emma Raducanu, despite her youth, has inspired plenty of young tennis stars with her journey thus far. Janice Tjen is just one of them.

The history-making Indonesian has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the last few years, making the successful jump from college tennis onto the professional circuit.

And, just last month, she added to her already sparkling legacy with a phenomenal run at the US Open, emerging through qualifying to become the first Indonesian player to feature in the main draw of a major since Angelique Widjaja at the 2004 US Open.

Then, in beating Veronika Kudermetova, she became the first Indonesian woman to win a Grand Slam match since Widjaja at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships.

It had already marked a special run for Tjen, but one that was quelled by Emma Raducanu, whom she spoke glowingly about in the run-up to their clash.

Janice Tjen on how Emma Raducanu inspires her
Although the British number one did not hold back in her 6-1, 6-2 demolition of the Indonesian qualifier, it clearly did not dent Tjen’s opinion of her conqueror.

After all, she had spoken about Raducanu’s 2021 US Open title run beforehand, explaining how such an unlikely victory inspired so many.

She stated: “When Emma won the tournament and [was] having an incredible run here, I was actually in college, and I was injured at the time, so I got to watch a lot of tennis.

“Just seeing her doing it inspired me, to be able to do it as well. Emma is very big, everyone loves Emma at home.”

She is not the only person to have attributed their success to inspiration gained from such a run, with Cameron Norrie suggesting that Raducanu had inspired him too a few years back.

Who did Emma Raducanu beat on her way to the US Open title?
Having come through qualifying with relative ease, Raducanu kick-started her 2021 US Open run with a routine win over Stefanie Vögele.

Next up came Zhang Shuai, who was also well beaten, before Sara Sorribes was crushed, 6-0, 6-1. This really stamped the teenager’s authority on the competition and made many believe that this run was no fluke.

Raducanu followed that up with a similarly dominant performance over Shelby Rogers, before beating Belinda Bencic and Maria Sakkari in the quarter and semi-finals respectively.

She capped off her US Open run and claimed the title by beating Leylah Fernandez in the final.

Raducanu won her first Grand Slam title without dropping a single set.