Canadian teenager extends remarkable run in Montreal to set up Elena Rybakina semi-final
Mboko, who is just 18-years-old, has swept her competitiors aside in a brilliant run through the tournament which is reminiscent of Emma Raducanu's triumph at the 2022 US Open when she was a qualifier.
On Monday, Mboko defeated Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6- 2 in a competitive yet dominant match. Mboko took the lead after taking an error-filled first set but was broken at the start of the second. But, she shrugged off her sluggish start to the set and broke back in the fourth and sixth games to take a 4-2 advantage and eventually closed out the match.
The teenager's victory comes just two days after she defeat the No. 1 seed Coco Gauff, also in straight sets, with that match lasting just 62 minutes as Mboko blasted her way into the quarter-finals.
She now faces ninth seed Elena Rybakina in the final four on Centre Court this Wednesday.
Mboko is the first Canadian to reach the WTA 1000 event's semi-finals since Bianca Andreescu's title run in 2019 and she's also the youngest woman to reach the semis since Belinda Bencic 's 2015 win in Toronto.
She has only lost one set from her six matches in Montreal, that coming in the round of 32 against the Czech Republic's Marie Bouzkova.
The 18-year-old has surged from outside the top 300 to a career-high No. 85 and is projected to climb to at least No. 55 according to WTA live rankings.
Rybakina, meanwhile, led Marta Kostyuk 6-1, 2-1 when the Ukrainian was forced to stop playing because of an arm injury. The players shook hands at the 54-minute mark as Kostyuk exited the court in tears.
In the other quarter-finals taking place on Tuesday, No. 6 seed Madison Keys faces Clara Tauson, and Naomi Osaka meets No. 10 seed Elina Svitolina.
The tournament final will be played on Thursday.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Victoria Mboko's Montreal magic: the Canadian teen who toppled four grand slam champions
Canada was still catching its collective breath from Summer McIntosh's record-breaking swims when 18-year-old Victoria Mboko grabbed the spotlight at the National Bank Open and never let go. In front of a sold-out crowd in Montreal, the 85th-ranked Canadian wildcard finished her Cinderella title run on Thursday night by beating former world No 1 Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to win her first WTA Tour title. Prolonged cheers for Mboko interrupted play 30 minutes into the men's final being played concurrently 330 miles west in her hometown of Toronto. 'I guess the Canadian player won in Montreal,' chair umpire Fergus Murphy explained to the confused players. That's the Mboko effect. With wins over four-time grand slam champion Osaka, reigning Roland Garros champion and world No 2 Coco Gauff, 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, and 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, Mboko became just the third teen in the open era to oust four major champions at a WTA event. She's the youngest since Serena Williams ran the table to win the 1999 US Open. If you find yourself in a 'first since' or 'youngest since' Serena stat, you know you've done something special. 'I think my biggest takeaway is the sky's the limit,' Mboko told the Guardian after the win. 'I never would have thought I would win a WTA 1000 so soon, that this would be my first WTA title, too.' Mboko started the year ranked outside the top 300 and proceeded to win the first 20 matches she played, all in straight sets, and sweeping up five ITF titles in the first three months of the season. The bulk of her wins came at professional tennis' minor league equivalent, but that stretch of play showed what Mboko could do if she got on a roll. Maya Joint is a 19-year-old Australian who has already won two WTA titles in her breakout season. Along with Mboko and No 5 Mirra Andreeva, the trio are the only teenagers in the WTA's top 90. 'Winning titles gives you a lot of confidence that you can do it,' Joint told the Guardian, 'that you can win that many matches in a row and stay focused for that long.' Mboko's game has proven to be a difficult Rubik's Cube to solve, even for the game's best. It is as intelligent as it is physical, a potent blend of power and discipline. She can overwhelm her opponents with power or use her speed and defense to trap them into errors. The choice, on any given day, is hers. 'She's very athletic,' said top-seeded Gauff after Mboko handed her a 6-1, 6-4 exit in the round of 16. 'She's a great ball striker, and she seems pretty positive out there on the court, doesn't get really too negative.' 'I don't know her too well, but I've gotten to talk to her a little bit over the course since Rome. I think she has a great support system around her, and I think that's important when you're young and on tour.' 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Her older siblings all played tennis, with her sister Gracia and brother Kevin being good enough to play at the collegiate level. She spent her summers running around the grounds at the National Bank Open chasing autographs and photos with her favorite players like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils. She even has a photo of herself at eight years old holding a replica of the trophy. Ten years on, she's no longer a pretender. Hours after the trophy ceremony, Mboko still couldn't believe she had her hands on the real thing. She will leave Montreal as one of the 25 best players on the WTA Tour, ranked at an astonishing No 24. When asked whether she feels like one of the 25 best players in the world, Mboko's humility kicked in. 'I don't think I could say yes to that, to be honest,' she said. 'It happens, and I honestly think everything's been happening so fast that I don't really have time to process it, let alone look at the rankings. 'I feel like when I settle down a little bit and kind of realize what has just happened, so many things will change and I'll have a different perspective going forward.' That perspective now shifts to the US Open, a tournament that has been very good to the Canadians. In 2019, a 19-year-old Bianca Andreescu became Canada's first grand slam singles champion there. Two years later, Leylah Annie Fernandez stormed into the final. Could Mboko follow their well-worn path? She certainly isn't ruling it out. 'When I started playing on the WTA Tour, I never thought in my head if I belonged or not because I just thought, a match is just a match,' Mboko said. 'I always knew everyone was really good, but I felt that at the end of the day, anything is possible.'
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Ireland coach Grundie targeting Euro semi-finals
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The Independent
5 hours ago
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Victoria Mboko's fairytale comes true with maiden WTA tour title triumph over Naomi Osaka
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko claimed her first WTA Tour crown as she denied Naomi Osaka a first title for four years in the National Bank Open. The 18-year-old, ranked 85th in the world, came from a set down against the former world number one to win 2-6 6-4 6-1 in Montreal, becoming the third Canadian to win the event. The final featured 13 service breaks, Mboko converting eight of her nine break point opportunities after forcing none in a first set when she made 22 unforced errors. 'It's been an incredible week,' said Mboko, who had previously knocked out grand slam champions Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina. 'I also want to thank Naomi for an incredible match. I've always looked up to her when I was really little, so it's always great to play with an amazing player like you. Having started the year ranked 333, Mboko will rise to 34 in the updated rankings. Osaka's last title was at the Australian Open in 2021. The final was her first at the WTA 1000 level since Miami in 2022 and her best performance since returning from maternity leave after having her daughter Shai in July 2023. By contrast, the final of the men's event in Toronto yielded just three breaks of serve as American fourth seed Ben Shelton outlasted Karen Khachanov, seeded 11th, to win 6-7 6-4 7-6. Second seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool beat sixth seeds Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski 6-3 6-7 13-11 in an all-British doubles final. The victory, Cash and Glasspool's sixth of the year and first ATP Masters 1000 success, ensured the Wimbledon champions are the first pair to ensure qualification for the ATP Finals in Turin. Cash told the ATP website: 'Qualifying for Turin was one of our big goals in the offseason, so to have done it so early is obviously amazing. But (we have) got some more things to do before the end of the season and then we'll push for that at the end.'
