Janice Tjen climbed into the WTA Top 40 on Monday, moving from No. 46 to No. 36 after reaching the round of 16 at the Dubai WTA 1000 event. The 23-year-old is the first Indonesian woman to sit inside the Top 40 since Yayuk Basuki was No. 35 during the two weeks of the 1998 US Open, the weeks of August 31 and September 7.

Three weeks earlier Tjen had marked her Top 50 debut, rising from No. 59 to No. 47 after a second-round showing at the Australian Open. Her progression this season has been steep. On this day a year ago, Tjen was ranked No. 391. She only just started playing at tour-level at the end of last summer.

Tjen made her first tour-level main draw at the US Open, where she reached the second round. In the weeks that followed she reached her first WTA final in Sao Paulo and then captured her first WTA title in Chennai. Last week she reached the round of 16 at a WTA 1000 event in Dubai for the first time in her career, eventually falling to Amanda Anisimova.

Those results have included wins over established opponents. She already has four career victories against Top 30 players: No. 25 Veronika Kudermetova at last year’s US Open; No. 23 Leylah Fernandez at the Australian Open; a No. 29-ranked Maya Joint in Abu Dhabi; and the No. 29-ranked Fernandez again in Dubai. If those wins are a guide, further climbs up the rankings may follow.

Tjen is back in competition this week at the WTA 500 event in Merida, where she is the No. 6 seed. She will meet former Top 40 player Camila Osorio in a first-time meeting in the first round.

Amanda Anisimova advanced to the Dubai semifinal after a gripping quarterfinal against defending champion Mirra Andreeva, but victory was marked by empathy as much as elation. Andreeva rallied from 5-3 down in the third to force a winner-take-all tiebreak, only for her final backhand to go long and hand Anisimova a 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) triumph.

The match finished with Andreeva doubled over and teary-eyed after hugging Anisimova on court. The American, who has been open about her own mental health struggles, said on court: “It was such a tough battle, and I thought we played incredible tennis,” and then added, “Seeing Mirra down like that, it’s understandable. We both fought so hard today, and it made me emotional seeing her like that. She was playing so well, she’s the defending champion and I feel like we both won on the court today. These type of matches, it’s always tough that someone has to lose at the end of the day.”

In her press conference Anisimova returned to the point, saying Andreeva is doing “all the right things” even after a dramatic loss and two earlier-than-expected exits following a title at the Adelaide International.

Q. You seemed really touched by when she broke down at the end. Can you talk about that moment.

AMANDA ANISIMOVA: Yeah, made me like really emotional because I feel like we both sort of felt that way throughout the match probably because it was such a roller coaster, so up and down. Despite whichever way it was going, I feel like we were both fighting with everything we had and trying our best.

Yeah, it’s not easy to see someone that gives their all and then to react like that. It made me really sad for her. In my mind, I was just, like, thinking if she keeps playing like this, there’s a title around the corner for her. Obviously she’s going to have a great year. She seems to be doing all the right things. Yeah, not easy to be a defending champion. But I feel like she did an amazing job.

Yeah, that’s kind of why I felt like that. I mean, there will be many more matches for us to come, I’m sure.

For a spot in the final, Anisimova will face No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula, who topped No. 12 seed and defending finalist Clara Tauson in another three-set quarterfinal. Anisimova sought perspective after an earlier loss to Pegula in Australia: “I feel like that feels like such a long time ago for me because every week we have a lot going on. There’s so many practices, so many matches,” she said. “I’m feeling, like, a lot better, like I said, every single day here. I feel like I’ve been going into the right direction. I’m really happy with the things I’m working on and the progress I’ve been making since I finished Australia. I’m excited at the end of the day. It’s another challenge for me, another opportunity for me to learn more about myself and my game and see how things have changed since that match that I played at Australia.”

Magda Linette reached a career milestone in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, beating No. 8 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. The 34-year-old Polish No. 2 secured the 20th Top 20 victory of her career.

Linette built an early lead, taking the first set 6-2 and moving ahead 1-0 in the second. Alexandrova answered by winning five consecutive games to lead 5-1 in the second set, but Linette recovered, winning the next three games before Alexandrova closed out the set. In the third set Linette opened a 5-0 advantage and served out the match two games later.

“The plan was to kind of not let her lead because she can really take the racquet out of your hands,” Linette said in her on-court interview. “She can make you feel like you’re not able to really do anything. She can start playing so well that it feels really difficult to come back.

“But in the third set I started really well and kept it going.”

A telling statistic was unforced errors: Linette made 25 to Alexandrova’s 46. Linette also finished with one more winner than her opponent. Alexandrova entered the match ranked No. 12; Linette’s victory over her provided the 20th Top 20 scalp of Linette’s career.

Nearly all of those Top 20 wins have come in recent seasons. Nineteen of Linette’s 20 career Top 20 victories have been recorded in the last five years, since she turned 29, a run that underlines her status as one of the tour’s late bloomers. Linette is a former Top 20 player herself, having reached No. 19 in 2023. She is currently ranked No. 50 and is the Polish No. 2 behind world No. 2 Iga Swiatek.