Mboko's enjoying her breakthrough under NBO spotlight

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Fans hold up a placard as they cheer for Victoria Mboko of Canada during her game against Coco Gauff of the United States during round of 16 tennis action at the National Bank Open in Montreal, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
MONTREAL — What a difference a week can make.
Last Sunday, as Victoria Mboko was getting set to make her National Bank Open debut against Australia's Kimberly Birrell, many spectators at IGA Stadium's Centre Court in Montreal could be forgiven for not knowing too much about the 18-year-old from Toronto.
Now, you'd be hard-pressed to find any tennis fan in Montreal, let alone the entire country, who isn't talking about Mboko.
The last remaining Canadian in either the men's or women's draws of the NBO tournament, all eyes will be focused on Mboko Monday night as she contests her first-ever quarterfinal at a WTA 1000 level tournament against Spain's Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro.
The match comes on the heels of a dominant win over world No. 2 and the tournament's top seed Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night in a match that lasted just 62 minutes.
'Obviously, she's doing great,' said Guillaume Marx, Tennis Canada's vice-president of high performance on Sunday. 'I think she stands up to the moment. She was impressed, I believe, by the crowd yesterday because it was packed. You rarely play in a stadium that is fully packed with people cheering behind you.
'I believe she was impressed and she delivered. For her confidence, it's just huge.'
'I think a big win like that, it changes expectations a little bit and it can definitely add some pressure,' said Madison Keys following her three-set win against Karolina Muchova on Sunday afternoon.
'I think people start maybe expecting a little bit more of you, but at the same time, you're also still young and there's lots of tennis ahead of you. There's going to be lots of ups and lots of downs.'
Mboko, who was born in Charlotte, N.C., but moved to Canada at a young age, spent almost the entirety of 2024 training at the Justine Henin Academy in Belgium.
However, Mboko reached out to Tennis Canada last November about the possibility of training full-time in her adopted country. Marx points to that decision as one of the catalysts behind her success this season.
'I think when you take big decisions in life, it's powerful,' he said. 'Once she told us she thought she wanted to try something different and that she wanted us to be there for her, we built a team around her so that it would work.'
Having started the year ranked outside the top 300, Mboko has skyrocketed her way all the way up to 85th in the world, and counting. The teenage sensation is 50-9 on the season across all competitions, including a stretch of 22 consecutive match wins — all in straight sets — at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Challenger tour level.
Mboko also impressed at the Grand Slam level this year, qualifying for both the French Open and Wimbledon, where she reached the third and second rounds, respectively.
'For me, it's a breakthrough,' said Marx. 'For sure, her world is changing. One month ago, she was practising here and was saying how she wanted to see how everything looked. She had never been here during the tournament. She was really excited to play.
'She is on a really amazing run. I think she will understand after the tournament that her world is kind of changing. She will have to cope with that, keep going and just keep improving.'
'It's been really great to kind of watch her,' added Keys. 'I think she's a fantastic tennis player and I don't think any of us were too surprised that she's kind of had the rise that she's had.'
The youngest Canadian quarter-finalist at the tournament since Helen Kelesi in 1987, Mboko will continue to count on a lot of support from the Canadian faithful against Bouzas Maneiro, the world's No. 51-ranked player.
Marx cautions, though, that Monday's match may prove to be a trap for Mboko.
'She's playing an opponent who has nothing to lose,' said Marx. 'I think she has to have confidence in her tennis. Regardless, win or lose, this match won't change her career. She will continue to progress.'
There is quite a bit on the line for Mboko, however.
Should Mboko win her next match, she would receive a Special Exemption directly into the main draw of the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati, which begins Thursday. Failing that, Mboko would have to compete in the tournament's two-round qualifying draw, which starts Tuesday.
Marx is unsure if Mboko would compete in Cincinnati in the event of a loss on Monday, given the travel and tight turnaround time between those matches.
Mboko is already assured a spot in the main draw of the U.S. Open, which begins later this month, the first time she will receive direct entry into a Grand Slam tournament in her career.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2025.
Jordan Stoopler, The Canadian Press