Canadian teen Mboko stuns Gauff in Montreal upset
The 18-year-old, ranked 85th, saved all four break points while breaking the reigning French Open champion three times.
'I don't even know what to say still, I was kind of shocked about it all,' admitted Mboko, crediting the roaring home crowd for carrying her through the decisive moments.
The local favourite recalled the pivotal final game: 'The crowd started cheering even louder... I used that as fuel to pump myself up. It helped me tremendously.'
The victory marks Mboko's career-high achievement after climbing from 333rd in January.
Their previous encounter in Rome had gone to three sets, but this time the Canadian dominated.
'Playing Coco is obviously never easy. I was just happy I kept my composure,' she reflected.
Gauff, struggling with 37 double faults across her opening matches, appeared sluggish as Mboko raced through the first set in 25 minutes.
Though the American fought back in the second, she squandered three break opportunities in the seventh game.
A critical missed drop shot and errant forehand proved costly before Mboko sealed victory on Gauff's netted backhand.
'She played a really great match, that's basically it,' conceded Gauff, acknowledging her subpar tournament form.
'I knew if I took my foot off the gas, she'd take advantage.'
Mboko advances to face either China's Zhu Lin or Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
In other matches, Elena Rybakina survived a three-set battle against Dayana Yastremska 5-7, 6-2, 7-5, setting up a quarterfinal with Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk. – AFP
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