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Globe and Mail
12 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Victoria Mboko's dream run in Montreal continues
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko commanded the stage once again on Monday night, storming into the semi-finals at the National Bank Open with another remarkable win. The 18-year-old wild card played beyond her years again, swiftly beating World No. 51 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain 6-4, 6-2 in the quarter-finals to extend her storybook run in Montreal. The Mboko show continues for at least another two days. The Torontonian plays in her first-ever WTA semi-final on Wednesday, versus No. 9-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Mboko earns another shot at the World No. 12, who recently eliminated her from the DC Open in Washington, an opponent with a Wimbledon title to her name. After her upset win over Gauff, Mboko is the headliner in Montreal NBO It's hard to remember that the kid who looks at home under the lights is in fact making her main draw debut at this tournament. As she makes just her third career WTA 1000 event, Mboko is quickly becoming one of the tour's most successful rising stars of 2025. Two days earlier, Mboko earned the biggest win of her career – a straight-sets triumph over World No. 2 and two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff. It had been the Canadian's first-ever victory over a Top 10 player in just her third attempt. Mboko also beat 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, and world No. 39 Marie Bouzkova during this Montreal run. Her profile is swelling as the tournament goes along. More feature night matches, bigger crowds, more autographs and press conferences. While the stands were sparse for Monday's 6 p.m. ET quarter-final between Elena Rybakina and Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk, plenty of fans were stopping by Mboko's short pre-match practice on a quiet backcourt, guided by coach Nathalie Tauziat, the French former pro, world No. 3 and Wimbledon finalist. By the time Mboko took the court at 7:45 p.m., IGA Stadium was jam packed and rocking for the fresh face who has become the headliner. As she keeps advancing, more media have turned up in Montreal. Homegrown celebrity athletes from Georges St-Pierre to Bruny Surin have come to watch her. The upstart's big year has been getting better and better. It has also included four straight singles trophies on the ITF Tour, earning her first WTA-level win, taking a set off world No. 11 Paula Badosa in Miami, a set off Gauff in Rome and a run to the third round at Roland Garros. While she came to Montreal ranked No.85, Monday's win will catapult the runaway teen into the top 50. It was Mboko's first-ever meeting with Bouzas Maneiro, 22, who was also seeking her first WTA semi-final. She was aiming to become the first Spanish woman to reach the semi-finals at this tournament since two stars, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez, each made the 2000 semis. Both players faced pressure in their first service games and each fended off break points. It remained close until Mboko went up a break for a 5-3 lead, capitalizing on the Spaniard's misses. When Mboko tried to serve for the set, she stumbled with a double fault and Bouzas Maneiro broke right back. The 18-year-old countered with another break and won the opening set. Mboko had a letdown to start the second set, broken right off the hop. But she hung in and soon broke back, the Montreal crowd roaring for her while she used the noise as fuel. She rallied back from down 0-2 to steal the set. Mboko is the first Canadian woman to make the semis at this tournament since Bianca Andreescu won it in 2019. She becomes the youngest woman to reach this event's semi-finals since Belinda Bencic won the title in 2015.
CBC
13 minutes ago
- CBC
Canada's Victoria Mboko stuns tennis fans with National Bank Open semi-final run
Canada's new tennis sensation, Victoria Mboko, is off to the semi finals at Montreal's National Bank Open, continuing an unexpected run and giving her a major boost in the Women's Tennis Association rankings. Mboko's profile reached new heights with her win over top-ranked Coco Gauff in the previous round.
CBC
13 minutes ago
- CBC
Canada's Victoria Mboko advances to NBO semifinals in Montreal
Victoria Mboko keeps on rising. Two days after dispatching No. 1 seed Coco Gauff, the Canadian teenage tennis sensation booked her place in the National Bank Open semifinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in women's singles action Monday night. Mboko upset Gauff in straight sets Saturday, winning the lopsided match in just 62 minutes. There was no letdown Monday, even if Mboko fought a little harder to pull out the victory. After taking a back-and-forth — and error-filled — first set, Mboko lost on serve in a sluggish start to the second set but broke back in the fourth and sixth games to take a 4-2 advantage. The 18-year-old from Toronto held serve and broke once more, with Bouzas Maneiro's backhand sailing long on match point to lift the fans out of their seats after 77 minutes. Mboko is the first Canadian to reach the WTA 1000 event's semifinals since Bianca Andreescu's title run in 2019. She's also the youngest woman to reach the semis since Belinda Bencic's 2015 win in Toronto. Bouzas Maneiro, ranked 51st, was also playing in the quarterfinals of a 1000-level tournament for the first time. In a breakthrough year, Mboko has surged from outside the top 300 to a career-high No. 85 in the world rankings. That number is projected to climb to at least No. 55, according to WTA live rankings. The last Canadian remaining in singles, Mboko has made a name for herself at home, her powerful ball-striking on full display in her first National Bank Open main draw. She will meet Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in Wednesday's semifinals. The ninth-seeded Rybakina advanced after Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk was forced to retire with an apparent arm injury while trailing 6-1, 2-1 earlier Monday night. After two injury-plagued years, Mboko — who had shown promise as a junior — opened the season with a 22-match win streak and captured five titles on the lower-tier ITF Tour. She then qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw at the French Open, reaching the third round, before stunning 25th seed Magdalena Frech in the first round at Wimbledon. And the upsets keep coming. In Montreal, Mboko has rattled off wins over 79th-ranked Kimberly Birrell, 23rd seed Sofia Kenin, 39th-ranked Marie Bouzkova and Gauff, the world No. 2. Her latest victory boosts her record to 25-8 against higher-ranked players and 51-9 in all competitions. Buzzing in anticipation, the crowd rose to its feet for loud applause the moment Mboko emerged from the tunnel before the match. Neither player appeared to be dialled in during the first set, firing shots long and wide and wasting opportunities to break early. At 2-2, Mboko fell in a 40-15 hole, but ultimately took the prolonged game thanks to five service winners, regularly opening points with 180 km/h strikes. The Canadian then went up 40-0 with three chances to break before a series of errors — including a few mishits on her backhand — helped Bouzas Maneiro hold. Mboko retook a 40-0 advantage for three breakpoint opportunities while leading 4-3. This time, Bouzas Maneiro fired her shot into the net. Bouzas Maneiro broke back after Mboko made three unforced errors and double-faulted.
