A lot has happened since Janice Tjen’s coach, Chris Bint, last spoke with Ubitennis following her milestone win at the US Open in August.
At the time, 23-year-old Tjen was the first player from her country to win a main draw match at a major singles event since 2003 and was ranked 149th in the world. Her run in New York ended in the second round with a straight-sets loss to former champion Emma Raducanu. Nevertheless, she went on to enjoy a stellar run.
In her next tournament, Tjen reached her first WTA final at the SP Open in Brazil. Then, in October, she won her first WTA 125 title in Jinan, China, by beating sixth seed Lulu Sun and second seed Anna Bondar en route to the title. A couple of weeks later, she clinched her biggest singles title to date at the Chennai Open in India, a WTA 250 event.
Indonesia’s top player hasn’t just blossomed on the singles Tour. In doubles, she has also won back-to-back WTA 250 trophies. First in Guangzhou with Katarzyna Piter and then in Chennai with compatriot Aldila Sutjiadi. Partnered up with Sutjiadi, she also won a WTA 125 in Suzhou.
Coinciding with her success on the court, Tjen has signed a contract with IMG Tennis, where she will be represented by agents Chris Helliar and Mats Merkel.
“From a result perspective, Janice has had a great last couple of months,” Bint tells Ubitennis.
“She’s very happy with that but we don’t measure success purely on results. I’m very clear with my coaching philosophy, which is to enjoy the work, respect the challenge, stay disciplined to the task and instill belief. That’s what I measure success on. Janice is very clear on how I like to operate.
“That’s what we try and do day in and day out. So from a result perspective, it’s been great and it’s now giving her the opportunity to be in bigger tournaments against better players. That’s always been one of her goals.”
British-born coach Bint has overseen Tjen’s surge up the rankings to 53rd position. The duo have recently been in Bali training before heading to Jakarta ahead of their next event. Whilst many players are well into their off-season, Tjen is getting ready to play at the Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand. The tennis tournament is scheduled to begin on December 10th.
Bint, who has previously worked as a National Performance coach for Tennis New Zealand, is clear when it comes to his philosophy of coaching. Especially when the rankings are involved.
“We never talk about that and never have that as a goal. That will take care of itself. Rankings go up and drop down. They can fluctuate a lot,” he explains.
“So that’s not what drives us day in, day out. I know that doesn’t drive Janice day in, day out.
“Habit stacking is the most important.”
What he means by ‘habit stacking’ is trying to ensure that Tjen produces the right methods consistently during matches. Interestingly, Bint’s focus isn’t necessarily working on his players’ weaknesses, although he obviously does take this into account. Instead, it is a case of making the stronger areas of her game even better to compete with the world’s best.
“Any tennis player thinks they’ve always got opportunities to improve in probably all parts of their game. There’s a reason why they are where they are is because they’re relentless in wanting to improve and wanting to get better,” he said.
“If you watch her (Tjen’s) game, you can see very clearly what she likes to do on court. What pattern she likes to try and play. So we’ll continue to build more on the things that she does very well.
“It’s more important to focus on what a tennis player does well. Try and execute that and implement that as best as they can. We’ll still try and implement a lot of variety in her game. She’s a very skillful player, very dynamic, very powerful so cleaning up on that. That’s going to be a big priority.”
A land of opportunity for both player and coach
2026 will be Tjen’s first full season on the WTA Tour. Following a path that is becoming more popular in the sport, she opted to start out via the college tennis route. She attended the University of Oregon and then Pepperdine University, graduating in 2024 with a degree in sociology.
After rising more than 350 places in the rankings since January, Tjen’s future in the sport is bright with the potential to one day break into the world’s top 20, a strong possibility. Although to achieve such a milestone, the focus is on her fitness with plans to expand her team.
“Number one is purely to stay fit and healthy. Try to manage the body as best as we can,” Bint said of their 2026 goals.
“It’s going to be pretty important for her that we bring someone on board from a fitness perspective to travel full time with us. Then we will get a lot of opportunities throughout the year to work on and maintain Tjen’s body.
“The second goal is to be able to complete a full schedule on the WTA Tour. She’s only played a handful of WTA tournaments. For her, getting the exposure and opportunity to do that week in week out in 2026 is going to be great for her development.”
It isn’t just Tjen who is working on developing her career; coaches on the Tour also do the same. Something that isn’t highlighted in the sport very often, as the spotlight is primary on the players. For Bint, he has a particular interest in the use of technology and its growing popularity.
“I think as coaches we get the opportunity to use a lot of technology and a lot of data. I like spending a lot of time watching tennis and speaking to data analysts. That’s what drives me and that’s what drives our practice court a lot. I’m very data driven,” he explains.
Elaborating further, Bint said he is looking forward to having the opportunity to connect with other top coaches on the Tour in 2026.
“I have my own personal mentors whom I will reach out to on things, but there are a lot of good coaches that are out there who are always willing to chat and talk,” he said.
“The networking piece in and around tournaments, I’ve really enjoyed. I love getting their opinions and thoughts and vice versa.”
Tjen will enter the new season being the only Indonesian singles player – male or female – to be ranked inside the top 300.
