Canadian Open: Home Hope Victoria Mboko, Naomi Osaka Set Up Championship Clash
Osaka posted a 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) victory over Denmark's Clara Tauson, while Canadian teenage sensation Mboko battled past Elena Rybakina in a 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) come-from-behind win.
Naomi Osaka will take on home hope Victoria Mboko in the final of the WTA Canadian Open in Montreal after the two players secured their berth in the championship clash of the event.
Osaka posted a 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) victory over Denmark's Clara Tauson, while Canadian teenage sensation Mboko battled past Elena Rybakina in a 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) come-from-behind win.
The 18-year-old wild card thrived on the crowd's energy, attributing her perseverance to ecstatic supporters after a fall left her with a sore right wrist in the third set of her first tour-level semi-final.
Mboko, who defeated top-seeded French Open champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round, didn't let it hinder her.
After losing an early break in the third set, she refused to back down, relying on her forehand and saving a match point as she broke Rybakina in the 10th game to level the set.
A couple of untimely double faults allowed ninth-seeded Rybakina to break back for a 6-5 lead, but the ninth seed from Kazakhstan was broken at love in the next game, setting the stage for tiebreaker drama.
'After I had that fall, I wasn't in the greatest spirits, but I'm happy that I kept my composure and was patient at the right moments," said Mboko, who won the last three points of a decider she described as 'stressful".
'Anything can happen," an exhausted Mboko beamed as the crowd's cheers rained down on her.
'Unfortunately, I fell, but I had everyone supporting me and pushing me."
Mboko started the season ranked outside the top 300 but had worked her way up to 85th by competing in lower-level tournaments.
She is assured of breaking into the top 40 regardless of the result against Osaka, a former world number one who has struggled to find consistency since returning from maternity leave in 2024.
Osaka looked re-energised this week after a coaching shakeup and breezed through the first set against Tauson.
However, Tauson twice regained a break in the second set, pushing it to a tiebreaker where she had chances to level the match after taking a 6-4 lead.
Unable to convert her set points, the Dane saved one match point to make it 7-7, but Osaka won the next two to seal the victory and reach her first final in a WTA 1000 level event since Miami in 2022.
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