Chennai Open 2026: Tjen, Linette complete contrasting wins to setup singles final

Janice Tjen beat Robin Montgomery to progress to the final of the WTA 250 Chennai Open Tennis Tournament. | Photo Credit: R. RAGU

Janice Tjen continued her winning streak while Magda Linette pulled off yet another comeback to set up an interesting singles final at the WTA 250 Chennai Open on Saturday.

World No. 75 Tjen, who clinched her maiden Tour-level title here last year, was largely untroubled during her 6-3, 6-4 victory over USA’s Robin Montgomery as the top-seeded Indonesian notched up her ninth straight win at the SDAT Stadium in Nungambakkam.

Later, Linette, who finished as runner-up in the inaugural edition in 2022 but did not play here last season, had to dig deep for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over big-hitting Russian Anastasia Zakharova in the 34-year-old Pole’s third three-setter this week.

Amidst the cacophony of firecrackers bursting the bubble of silence usually created around a tennis fixture, Tjen blitzed to a 5-1 lead in the opener against left-handed Montgomery.

World No. 151 Montgomery stopped the bleeding as she converted her fifth chance to finally break Tjen’s serve, but the 24-year-old Indonesian eventually bagged the set.

Montgomery, 22, was much more patient with her play in the second essay as she looked to open up the court before going for the winning shot. It earned her a break point at 40-30 in the fifth game but Tjen saved it with a superb forehand lob. Former World No. 95 Montgomery had one more chance but her forehand only found the net in response to a 136km/h second serve from Tjen.

Tjen escaped and immediately got the decisive break in the next game.

Serving for the match, Tjen showed yet another example of her court craft as she won a 13-shot rally on match point with a forehand down the line.

“This is the first time that I’ve played in this kind of outside environment. It’s definitely not easy for me and I’m pretty sure it’s also not easy for anybody else as well because we’re so used to playing in a quiet environment. So,I was just trying to be focussed there,” said Tjen when asked about playing with firecrackers bursting in the background.

“We were told by the supervisor that there will be fireworks going on during the match and knowing that in advance definitely helped. I was trying to just tune it out as much as possible. It’s definitely not easy because you don’t know when it’s going to happen. It is constantly happening but it’s at random times.”

Poland’s Magda Linette finished as runner-up in the inaugural edition in 2022 but did not play here last season. | Photo Credit: R. RAGU

Linette, who came to Chennai with seven first-round exits since her semifinal finish at the WTA 250 event in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, was on the backfoot as the 24-year-old Zakharova’s aggressive style of play completely broke her forehand in the first set.

But the third-seeded Pole, former World No. 19 and 2023 Australian Open semifinalist, showed her experience as from the second set, she focussed more on using the pace of Zakharova’s shots and redirecting the ball into the vacant corners.

World No. 107 Zakharova did not search for a Plan B and continued to go hard. She produced moments of brilliance at times but lacked the consistency to mount a comeback, eventually succumbing to Linette in an hour and 55 minutes.

Results (Semifinals):-

Janice Tjen (Ina) bt Robin Montgomery (USA) 6-3, 6-4; Magda Linette (Pol) bt Anastasia Zakharova (Rus) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3