Magda Linette has won the Chennai Open, a WTA 250 event in India, beating defending champion Janice Tjen 5-7 6-1 6-4 in the final. The Pole, who lost the 2022 final, completed the circle four years later and lifted the trophy against a rival she had never faced before.
The tournament began on 2 November 2026 with a draw of 29 players from 20 nations. The numbers describe a far from dull week: 27 matches played, 6 tie-breaks, 11 matches that went to a deciding set, three sets that ended 6-0 and just one retirement.
For Linette, currently world No. 68 with 956 points, the title is worth 250 ranking points. For Tjen, No. 75 with 900 points, reaching the final is worth 163, against the 250 she was defending from 2025: a difference of 87 points, which matters for a player in the middle of the rankings.
The final started in the Indonesian's favour. Tjen, the defending champion, won the first set 7-5 and steered the match onto the terms that suited her best.
The second set changed everything. Linette raised her level and closed it out 6-1, levelling the match. From there it became a question of nerves and experience, two things the 34-year-old Pole does not lack.
In the third set Linette took charge and held her course to the final 6-4. It confirms a tournament played often from behind and almost always won: in four of her five matches that week she had to go to a third set.
The route began uphill. In the first round Linette beat Aliona Falei 7-6(3) 5-7 6-2, the match with the most games of the tournament, a full 33. In the round of 16 she was much quicker against Moyuka Uchijima: 7-6(5) 6-0.
The real scare came in the quarter-finals, against Mai Hontama. Linette lost the first set 4-6, then recovered to win 7-5 6-4. In the semi-final she repeated the feat against Anastasia Zakharova: after losing the opening set 2-6 she won 6-2 6-3. Two comebacks in a row are no accident.
Tjen also had a solid week. In the round of 16 she beat Joanna Garland 7-6(1) 6-1, in the quarter-finals she got past Polina Kudermetova 5-7 6-4 6-2 after dropping the first set, and in the semi-final she stopped the American Robin Montgomery 6-3 6-4 in straight sets.
There is only one previous meeting, and it is this final. The head-to-head therefore reads 1-0 to Linette: two sets won to one, and a victory that went the distance.
The two careers tell different stories. Linette is 34.7 years old, Tjen 24.5. The Pole finished 2025 with 19 wins and 23 losses and no titles, while the Indonesian had a 10-3 season in 2025, with the title coming right here in Chennai.
Tjen's 2025 success was historic. She beat Kimberly Birrell 6-4 6-3 in the final and, according to the Indian press, became the first Indonesian woman to win a WTA singles title since Angelique Widjaja in 2002. This year she is back in the final, and that deserves a mention.
The recent form of both players before Chennai had not been brilliant. In Guangzhou Linette lost in the round of 16 to Lilli Tagger 6-2 6-2, while Tjen was stopped at the same stage by Harriet Dart 6-4 3-6 6-3, after beating Kudermetova 6-2 6-2 in the first round.
The Chennai Open has a short but already rich history. The site's roll of honour lists three editions: Tjen in 2025, Linda Fruhvirtova in 2022 and now Linette. In 2022 Linette herself lost the final to Fruhvirtova 4-6 6-3 6-4: four years later the script is the same, three sets, but the ending is reversed.
By nation, Poland sent two players and achieved the best possible result, the title. Indonesia, with a single representative, reached the final, while Japan, with four players, went out in the quarter-finals. Italy had its protagonist too: Lucrezia Stefanini reached the last eight.
In the quarter-finals Stefanini had to leave the court against Zakharova at 2-6 2-5, the only retirement of the tournament. Zakharova went through to the semi-finals and was then the opponent who took Linette to a third set.
What happens now? The WTA season is heading towards its close and for Linette the title is a confidence boost heading into 2027. Tjen, meanwhile, must restart from her current ranking, with 87 fewer points than she was defending in Chennai.
One fact deserves emphasis: Linette lost the first set of a final and won the next two 6-1 and 6-4. For a player who ended 2025 with 19 wins and 23 losses, it is a fine way to turn her season around.
Test yourself
3 questions on what you have just read.
1. Who won the Chennai Open final?
2. What was the final score?
3. Who did Linette beat in the semi-final?