Tennis player Janice Tjen from Indonesia has the potential to meet world No. 1 tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. The Indian Wells WTA 1000 draw, released on Wednesday, shows that Janice is in the first quarter, just like Sabalenka, who will be returning to competition after her appearance in the Australian Open final. While Sabalenka was absent from the Middle East tour, Janice made positive progress in the “Middle East Swing.” The 23-year-old Jakarta native even climbed to world rank 36 after the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the second WTA 1000 tournament of the 2026 season. Janice started the “Middle East Swing” at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open 2026, where she defeated rising Australian player Maya Joint in the first round. However, she was stopped by fifth seed Liudmila Samsonova in the second round. Despite this, Janice reached the semifinals in the doubles category with Philippine player Alexandra Eala. In the previous WTA 1000 Doha, Janice was eliminated by top seed Iga Swiatek in the second round after beating Brazilian player Beatrice Haddad Maia. In the WTA 1000 Dubai, Janice reached the round of 16 by defeating Dayana Yastremska and Leylah Fernandez with straight sets before falling to second seed Amanda Anisimova. In Indian Wells, Janice will face 27-year-old player Jaqueline Cristian, currently ranked 35th in the world – four places above Janice. If she advances past the opening round, Janice will face Maya Joint again, who received a bye in the first round. Meanwhile, top seed Sabalenka, also with a bye, awaits the winner of the first round match between US player Alycia Parks or a qualifier. As a two-time finalist, Sabalenka has never won Indian Wells. For Janice, the BNP Paribas Open is her third WTA 1000 event after a breakthrough year in 2025 when she climbed from No. 411 to No. 53 in the world rankings.
