Canadian teen Mboko to face Osaka in Montreal final
tennis
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko rallied to reach the National Bank Open final, beating ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) on Wednesday night.
The 18-year-old Mboko dropped to the court after Rybakina's shot sailed long on match point as the crowd — lined with 'Allez Vicky' — erupted. Mboko saved a match point in the third set and broke Rybakina twice to force the tiebreaker.
'Incredible match, thank you to everyone for supporting me,' Mboko told the crowd in French. 'It was really difficult, but anything can happen.'
On Thursday night, she'll face Japanese star Naomi Osaka, a 6-2, 7-6 (7) winner over 16th-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark in the second semifinal.
Mboko, ranked 85th in the world, is seeking her first WTA Tour title and trying to join Faye Urban (1969) and Bianca Andreescu (2019) as the only Canadians to win the home event in the open era.
Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Congolese parents, Mboko grew up in Toronto. She upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the quarterfinals, then topped Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6-2 on Monday. At 2 hours, 46 minutes, the match Wednesday was the longest of Mboko's short tour career.
From Kazakhstan, Rybakina won at Wimbledon in 2022. She has nine career WTA Tour victories, winning in May on clay at Strasbourg. Rybakina beat Mboko 6-3, 7-5 last month in Washington.
Mboko overcame 11 double-faults and battled through a wrist injury after stumbling awkwardly to the ground in the second game of the third set. She'll will move up to at least 34th in the world after starting the year outside the top 300.
Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam champion who reached No. 1 in the world, continued her best performance in a WTA 1000 tournament since reaching the Miami final in 2022. She stepped for 15 months toward the end of that season and had daughter Shai in July 2023. She's seeking her eighth title and her first since the 2021 Australian Open.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Kyodo News
4 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Tennis: Osaka overpowers Tauson to reach National Bank Open final
MONTREAL - Japanese former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka reached the final at the National Bank Open on Wednesday after beating Clara Tauson of Denmark 6-2, 7-6(7) in the semifinals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal. The win set up a Thursday showdown with 18-year-old local favorite Victoria Mboko as the 27-year-old Osaka bids for her first title on the WTA tour since the Australian Open in February 2021. Four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka, currently 49th in the world, faced the 19th-ranked Tauson in a repeat of the final at January's WTA 250 ASB Classic in New Zealand. In that match, the Japanese withdrew with an abdominal injury after winning the first set 6-4. Osaka continued to excel on her preferred hard court surface, with solid ground strokes off both sides helping her run off four straight games to take the first set. After falling behind 4-2 in the second set, Tauson fought her way back to even the match at four games apiece. However, the Dane could only convert two of her seven break points and sent a forehand into the net on match point to put Osaka into the final after 1 hour, 45 minutes. "I guess just you guys cheering, it really meant a lot," Osaka said after the match. "I'm pretty sure it's super late now, but thank you for sticking around and I hope you guys also come and watch the final." Osaka is expecting a hostile atmosphere in the final against the 85th-ranked Mboko, who battled past Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(4). "She's Canadian, I heard the applause from inside (the locker room), so I'm pretty sure it's going to be super lively. But I really appreciate that because it means you guys are invested in the match," she said. "I hope one or two people cheer for me, too."
Japan Today
10 hours ago
- Japan Today
Canadian teen Mboko to face Osaka in Montreal final
Victoria Mboko of Canada reacts following her win over Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan during semifinal tennis action at the National Bank Open in Montreal, Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP) tennis Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko rallied to reach the National Bank Open final, beating ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) on Wednesday night. The 18-year-old Mboko dropped to the court after Rybakina's shot sailed long on match point as the crowd — lined with 'Allez Vicky' — erupted. Mboko saved a match point in the third set and broke Rybakina twice to force the tiebreaker. 'Incredible match, thank you to everyone for supporting me,' Mboko told the crowd in French. 'It was really difficult, but anything can happen.' On Thursday night, she'll face Japanese star Naomi Osaka, a 6-2, 7-6 (7) winner over 16th-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark in the second semifinal. Mboko, ranked 85th in the world, is seeking her first WTA Tour title and trying to join Faye Urban (1969) and Bianca Andreescu (2019) as the only Canadians to win the home event in the open era. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Congolese parents, Mboko grew up in Toronto. She upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the quarterfinals, then topped Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6-2 on Monday. At 2 hours, 46 minutes, the match Wednesday was the longest of Mboko's short tour career. From Kazakhstan, Rybakina won at Wimbledon in 2022. She has nine career WTA Tour victories, winning in May on clay at Strasbourg. Rybakina beat Mboko 6-3, 7-5 last month in Washington. Mboko overcame 11 double-faults and battled through a wrist injury after stumbling awkwardly to the ground in the second game of the third set. She'll will move up to at least 34th in the world after starting the year outside the top 300. Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam champion who reached No. 1 in the world, continued her best performance in a WTA 1000 tournament since reaching the Miami final in 2022. She stepped for 15 months toward the end of that season and had daughter Shai in July 2023. She's seeking her eighth title and her first since the 2021 Australian Open. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Mainichi
12 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Baseball: Shohei Ohtani homers for 1,000th career hit, fans 8 in 4 innings
LOS ANGELES (Kyodo) -- Shohei Ohtani recorded his 1,000th major league career hit with a two-run homer and struck out a season-high eight over four innings in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday. The two-way star turned the Dodgers' 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead when he launched his 39th home run of the season to center field off Matthew Liberatore at Dodger Stadium. Ohtani joined new Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui as the third Japanese-born player to reach 1,000 hits in the majors. Ichiro had 3,089 hits and Matsui 1,253. At the plate, Ohtani went 1-for-3 with the two RBIs and a walk while allowing one run and two hits in his eighth mound start of the season. The Cardinals scored first on an RBI bunt single by Brendan Donovan in the third inning. Ohtani struck out the last four batters he faced in a 54-pitch outing. "I thought it was a big day for me personally getting to the fourth inning," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. "I think that was really good in terms of building up where I am." "I don't really try to think too differently on days that I pitch and hit and on days that I only hit." The Cardinals scored two runs in the eighth to take the lead for good at 4-3. Among other Japanese players, Chicago Cubs designated hitter Seiya Suzuki drove in two runs with a sacrifice fly and his 27th home run of the season in a 6-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
