Camille Naredo

Janice Tjen of Indonesia serves to McCartney Kessler of the United States during the Credit One Charleston Open at Credit One Stadium on April 1, 2026 in Charleston, South Carolina.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA - APRIL 01: Janice Tjen of Indonesia serves to McCartney Kessler of the United States during the Credit One Charleston Open at Credit One Stadium on April 1, 2026 in Charleston, South Carolina.   Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by MATTHEW STOCKMAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Article (news)

Three Southeast Asian tennis stars score huge first-round wins at Wimbledon

Dyan Castillejo

ABS-CBN News

Three Southeast Asian players—Janice Tjen from Indonesia, along with Mananchaya Sawangkaew and Lanlani Tararudee, both from Thailand—played impressive tennis to march into the second round at Wimbledon 2026.First to score an upset was the Thai Sawangkaew. Ranked WTA No. 164, she staged a stunning comeback from 2-6, 2-5 and a match point down against Roland Garros finalist and 20th seed Maja Chwalinska of Poland. The Thai player remained positive and fought point-by-point, eventually winning in three sets, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, to earn her first Grand Slam main draw victory on Day 1 of the Championships.<div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=2071648818966175951&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring&amp;sessionId=ff375418db8489fd4864809b0f845566d1d3c42c&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:550px;height:624px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="2071648818966175951"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script>Chwalinska received huge support from the crowd throughout the match. The Polish wild card was up 6-2, 5-2 when she slipped and seemed to hurt her leg on match point. She called for a medical timeout, and though she returned to the match after treatment, her mobility was severely hampered.Sawangkaew, who reached the main draw by winning three consecutive qualifying matches—all in three sets—showed immense mental fortitude to turn the match around.&quot;I just think, I&#x27;m going to give as much as I can,&quot; Sawangkaew said after the match. &quot;Then when I was down match point, I was, like, saying okay, the match is not done yet. So I just have to fight until the end. So I just run for every ball, catch every ball that I can, and the result was good.&quot;Mananchaya admitted that simply reaching the Wimbledon main draw had already exceeded her expectations. When she learned she would face Chwalinska in the opening round, she viewed it as another valuable opportunity. Chwalinska had made an incredible run to the finals at Roland Garros after entering the draw as a lucky loser.&quot;When I realized I would play with Maja, I felt like, okay, it&#x27;s a good experience to play with her. I was so excited to play,&quot; Mananchaya said.Sawangkaew noted that she saw Chwalinska struggling with an apparent ankle injury during the second set, but stayed committed to focusing on her own game after trailing 2-5.&quot;My coach always tells me, &#x27;Just focus on yourself first,&#x27;&quot; she said. &quot;I have to control a lot in my mind and a lot of what I have to do. So I mostly focus on myself, just still fighting for every ball the same.&quot;The Thai player was all smiles at the post-match press conference, extremely pleased with her effort and success.&quot;I play like this because I&#x27;m so small,&quot; she explained. &quot;The only way is to take the ball early, and then finish the point early. I cannot have a big serve or something like that. The only thing I can do is take the ball early, and then fight for every ball the best I can.&quot;Sawangkaew will play Alycia Parks in the second round.Meanwhile, Janice Tjen scored the next major upset of the day. Ranked No. 42, Tjen beat 22nd seed Leylah Fernandez on Court 18. A large crowd turned out to cheer both players in a highly competitive match. Tjen asserted her dominance by hitting big serves and heavy forehands, mixing up the pace with sliced backhands. Fernandez pushed hard to force a third set, but Tjen prevailed in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6.In the second round, Tjen will meet Daria Kasatkina.Shortly after Tjen&#x27;s victory, fellow Thai Lanlani Tararudee, ranked WTA No. 99, completed a hard-fought three-set win against Lily Tagger, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4. The grueling match lasted two hours and 40 minutes on Court 8.The win sets Tararudee up for a second-round clash against 18th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova on Wednesday.

Three Southeast Asian players—Janice Tjen from Indonesia, along with Mananchaya Sawangkaew and Lanlani Tararudee, both from Thailand—played impressive tennis to march into the second round at Wimbledon 2026.

Three Southeast Asian players—Janice Tjen from Indonesia, along with Mananchaya Sawangkaew and Lanlani Tararudee, both from Thailand—played impressive tennis to march into the second round at Wimbledon 2026.