Victoria Mboko: The Congolese immigrant, who admired Serena Williams and is now into WTA Montreal final
Victoria Mboko, an 18-year-old American-born Canadian tennis player, advanced to the final of the National Bank Open in Montreal after claiming upset victories over top seed Coco Gauff, Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
The teenager, who began 2025 ranked 333rd, is now set to move into the top 50 when rankings are updated next week after accumulating 52 wins and nine losses this year.
Mboko is the first Canadian to reach the WTA 1000 event's final since Bianca Andreescu's title run in 2019 and earlier the youngest woman to reach the semis since Belinda Bencic's 2015 win in Toronto. She will face four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in the final.
The youngest of four tennis-playing siblings from a Congolese immigrant family, Mboko made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at age 15 in the 2022 Canadian Open doubles draw. Her first professional singles title came at the ITF W25 tournament in Saskatoon in 2022, which she successfully defended in 2023.
Victoria Mboko will rise to the top-50 of WTA Rankings next week after a big two weeks in Montreal. (AP)
Her breakthrough 2025 season began with victories in two ITF W35 tournaments in the Caribbean. She received a Miami wild card, where she secured her first tour-level victory over Camila Osorio before pushing Paula Badosa to a deciding set.
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"Anyone who knew her in Canadian tennis would not be surprised. She has so much power to her game. I remember practising with her when she was 14 or 15 years old and she was smacking forehands and bowling me off the court, so we all knew she would be really good," said former Wimbledon finalist Genie Bouchard.
"I'm very impressed with how cool, calm and collected she was on the court. She looked much more mature than her 18 years of age.
You see her on the court and she's handling it like she's done it a hundred times," Bouchard added.
After her loss to Mboko, Coco Gauff praised the rising star: "She's very athletic. She's a great ball striker, and she seems pretty positive out there on the court, doesn't get really too negative. I think she has a great support system around her, and that's important when you're young and on tour."
Elena Rybakina and Victoria Mboko at the net after their semi-final match in Montreal. (AP)
Mboko's success stems from her family's support, particularly her siblings.
Her sister Gracia, who played tennis for the University of Denver, and brother Kevin, a tennis coach in suburban Toronto, help keep her focused during tournaments.
"There is so much happening even behind the scenes," Mboko said. "I feel like my family has been doing a good job of keeping me, I guess, isolated from it all. I have just been enjoying the moment. I have been enjoying time with my sister and my brother. I don't have so many people around me, and it's kept me very calm and very comfortable."
The Mboko family moved from the Democratic Republic of Congo nearly three decades ago to escape the Congo Wars of the mid-1990s. After living in North Carolina, where Victoria was born, they settled in Toronto when she was an infant.
Mboko's game features aggressive play combined with variety, including drop shots and slices. She can serve at 120 mph and grew up admiring Serena Williams. Her coach is former world No. 3 Nathalie Tauziat, known for her varied playing style.
Her recent success includes qualifying for her first Grand Slam main draw at the French Open, reaching the third round before falling to Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen. She also stunned 25th-seeded Magdalena Frech in the first round at Wimbledon.
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