Janice Tjen Advances to the 16th Round of the 2026 Birmingham Classic

Janice Tjen continues her journey to the 2026 Birmingham Classic 16-person final (Instagram/@janicetjen).

JAKARTA - Janice Tjen recorded good results when opening the grass court tour this season at the 2026 WTA 125 Birmingham Classic. He successfully stopped Nao Hibino from Japan to secure a place in the second round.

The 24-year-old and the second seed in the tournament secured his ticket after fighting three sets 6-4, 3-6, and 6-2 at the Edgbaston Priory Club, Birmingham, England, on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, WIB night.

This victory is a fresh wind and proof for Janice. He had previously gone through a difficult period throughout the clay court tour, including swallowing defeat in the first round of Roland Garros in Paris, France.

In addition, he also suffered defeat in other clay courts, such as in the first round of the WTA 1000 Italian Open, WTA 250 Morocco Open, and Charleston Open, as well as returning in the second round of the WTA 1000 Madrid Open.

However, the quick transition from clay to grass seems to have been perfectly exploited by Janice to rediscover her best touch.

When meeting Nao, the match statistics showed how dominant Janice was in securing crucial points from the serve. This is different from previous matches.

Janice successfully recorded five aces and only made two double faults. The record is inversely proportional to his opponent, who recorded four aces and four double faults.

In addition, in terms of effectiveness, Janice's point winning percentage from the first serve reached 70 percent and was at 72 percent in the second serve situation.

Janice also appeared deadly in the return area by converting five of the seven break points he got to demolish the Japanese's defense.

Overall, Janice bagged 86 points of victory, far ahead of Nao who collected 68 points. Janice even recorded a string of eight consecutive points that made the momentum of the game completely under his control in the decisive set.