Latest news with #DavidKirouac-ImagnImages
Canada News.Net
3 days ago
- Sport
- Canada News.Net
Victoria Mboko, Naomi Osaka WD from Cincinnati Open
(Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images) Victoria Mboko and Naomi Osaka withdrew from the Cincinnati Open on Friday, the day after their three-set final at the National Bank Open in Montreal. Mboko, who rallied to claim her first WTA title with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win, is out due to a left wrist injury. The 18-year-old Mboko became the third Canadian woman to win her national open following Faye Urban (1969) and Bianca Andreescu (2019). 'I'm going to take care of my wrist,' she said Thursday night. 'Just do some prevention and recovery and prepare for what's to come.' Osaka cited a change of schedule for her reason to withdraw from the Cincinnati event. The Japanese star and Mboko were slated to receive byes into the second round by virtue of their reaching the final in Montreal. With two spots now available, lucky losers Iva Jovic and Solana Sierra will contest one new first-round match, while Cristina Bucsa and Yuan Yue will compete in the other.
Canada News.Net
3 days ago
- Sport
- Canada News.Net
WTA roundup: Canadian teen Victoria Mboko wins title in Montreal
(Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images) Canadian 18-year-old Victoria Mboko completed a Cinderella run at the National Bank Open, defeating Japanese star Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday night to capture the WTA 1000 title in Montreal. Mboko became the third Canadian woman to win her national open following Faye Urban (1969) and Bianca Andreescu (2019). Mboko won her first WTA title of any kind and will rocket to No. 25 in the world rankings next week. When Osaka gave her the match-winning point by hitting a back-handed shot into the net, Mboko dropped her racquet and went to her knees while covering her face. 'It's been an incredible week here in Montreal,' Mboko said. '... I also want to thank Naomi for an incredible match. I've always looked up to her when I was really little, so it's always great to play with an amazing player like you.' Mboko's stunning tournament was highlighted by a straight-sets upset of No. 1 seed Coco Gauff in the Round of 16. She also took down No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the semifinals, rallying from a set down just as she did in the final. Osaka controlled the first set Thursday, winning the first three games and never facing a break point. Then came a topsy-turvy second set in which the returning player broke the server in each of the first five games, resulting in a 3-2 Mboko lead. Mboko won a service game and broke Osaka again for a 5-2 lead en route to evening the match. After each woman broke the other to start the third set, Mboko ran the table by claiming the final five games. The championship match featured 14 service breaks, more than half of the 25 total games. That's where Mboko found her advantage, as she converted 8 of 9 opportunities to break Osaka's serve while saving 7 of 13 break points herself. Cincinnati Open Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain defeated Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round in Mason, Ohio. Williams, 45, was in the field as a wild card as she continues her return to competitive tennis after more than a year away. Her next planned appearance will be in the U.S. Open mixed doubles draw with Reilly Opelka. The opening day of action saw a trio of three-setters during the early action. Romania's Sorana Cirstea beat Croatia's Donna Vekic 6-1, 4-6, 6-3; Mexico's Renata Zarazua rallied past Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; and Germany's Eva Lys battled past Bernarda Pera 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Other winners included Maya Joint of Australia, Anastasia Potapova of Russia, Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, Aoi Ito of Japan, Olga Danilovic of Serbia and Tatjana Maria of Germany. The two night matches pitted Clervie Ngounoue against Hailey Baptiste and Peyton Stearns against China's Yafan Wang.
Canada News.Net
4 days ago
- Sport
- Canada News.Net
Elina Svitolina slams bettors for 'shameful' abuse after loss
(Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images) Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina lashed out on Instagram to detail the online abuse she received -- including death threats and those celebrating Russia killing her countrymen -- from frustrated gamblers following a recent loss. The 10th-seeded Svitolina dropped a 6-2, 6-2 decision to Naomi Osaka on Tuesday at the Canadian Open in Montreal. Svitolina, 30, posted messages of threats she received and racial slurs aimed at her husband, fellow tennis star Gael Monfils, who is Black. She also included a message that said it hoped Russia 'kills all you (expletive) Ukrainians' as a war continues in her home country. 'To all the bettors: I'm a mom before I'm an athlete,' Svitolina wrote on Instagram. 'The way you talk to women -- to mothers -- is SHAMEFUL. If your moms saw your messages, they'd be disgusted.'
Canada News.Net
5 days ago
- Sport
- Canada News.Net
Naomi Osaka, Clara Tauson spring upsets to reach Montreal semifinals
(Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images) Not even the greatest women's tennis aficionados could have predicted this final four at the National Bank Open in Montreal. On Tuesday, unseeded Naomi Osaka of Japan and No. 16 Clara Tauson of Denmark punched their tickets to the semifinals of the WTA 1000 event. Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion knocked off No. 10 Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, 6-2, 6-2, while Tauson started brightly and held off No. 6 Madison Keys, 6-1, 6-4. The two will meet in the second semifinal match on Wednesday. The earlier match will feature 18-year old Canadian upstart Victoria Mboko and the highest seed remaining, No. 9 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Svitolina struggled with her serve in the first set, getting less than 43 percent of her first serves in and losing 9-of-12 second serve points. Osaka took advantage, converting 3-of-4 break point opportunities, while saving 4-of-5 of her own troubled service games. In her best showing since in a WTA 100 event since reaching the finals at the Miami Open in 2022, Osaka won 16-of-18 points in efficient serving games and did not face a break point to advance. She will move up from No. 49 to at least No. 34, her highest ranking since returning to the tour 20 months ago. Osaka credits new coach Tomasz Wiktorowski with her recent success. 'Honestly, I think for me what's working well is I am very confident in my fitness. I'm really comfortable just getting balls back now, and I really enjoy Tomasz,' said Osaka. But I enjoy his coaching style. He's very direct and to the point. For someone like me, who my thoughts scatter around often, it's very helpful,' Tauson never trailed in her match vs. the 2025 Australian Open champion. She broke Keys' serve in the fourth and sixth games of the set and opened the second set with a break. Tauson, who defeated 2025 Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek in the previous round, won a robust 72.9 percent of the points on her serve. Tauson was playing with a heavy heart, revealing after the match that her grandfather had passed away on Sunday. 'I really wanted to win for him today,' said Tauson. 'I really wanted to come out here and show my best tennis for him, and hopefully he's watching.' Osaka and Tauson did square off in the finals of the 2025 Auckland Open. Osaka won the first set, but had to retire, gifting the Dane her third career title.
Canada News.Net
6 days ago
- Sport
- Canada News.Net
Canadian teen Victoria Mboko reaches Montreal semifinals
(Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images) Canadian teen Victoria Mboko breezed into the semifinals on home turf, dispatching of Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6-2 on Monday at the National Bank Open in Montreal. Mboko next will face ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who led 6-1, 2-1 when 24th-seeded Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine was forced to retire due to a wrist injury. Mboko, who knocked off top-seeded Coco Gauff in straight sets in the fourth round, converted two of six break point chances in the first set on Monday. Bouzas Maneiro had a difficult time with her second serve, dropping 5 of 8 points to Mboko. The 18-year-old from Toronto was extremely efficient in the second set, prevailing on all three of her break-point opportunities. Mboko was broken in the first game of the set and fell behind 2-0 before winning the final six games. The match lasted 1 hour, 17 minutes. 'I'm so excited to be in the semifinal here,' Mboko said in the postmatch on-court interview. 'I want to thank everyone for your support once again. It has been unreal. 'I train here (in Canada) and it's always a great opportunity to be here. My first time playing in Montreal has been an unreal experience and I couldn't be more grateful.' Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, broke Kostyuk in the opening game of the match. After the Ukrainian held in the third game, she had her right wrist and foreman heavily taped. Rybakina won the final four games of the first set. She opened the second set by holding serve and Kostyuk was clearly struggling, using an abbreviated serving motion to lessen the wrist discomfort. She then held serve, as did Rybakina, but Kostyuk then retired, leaving the court in tears after 54 minutes of match time. Mboko and Rybakina met in the last tournament in Washington, with Rybakina coming away with a 6-3, 7-5 victory in the second round. Rybakina has one title to her credit in 2025 (Strasbourg, France) and nine in her career. Mboko began the year ranked No. 333 in the world and entered the tournament in Montreal at No. 85. She will move into the top 50 as of next week. Mboko becomes the first Canadian player to earn a spot in a WTA 1000 event semifinals since Bianca Andreescu won the championship in 2019. She is also the youngest player to reach the semis since 2015, when Swiss teen Belinda Bencic earned the title. It has been an excellent few weeks for Canadian tennis, as unseeded Leylah Fernandez won the Citi DC Open in Washington.
