Mboko, Canadian promise, surprises Gauff and advances in Montreal

Victoria Mboko Shocks Coco Gauff at the Canadian Open

The young Canadian tennis player Victoria Mboko, only 18 years old, starred in an outstanding performance by defeating the top seed, Coco Gauff, with a score of 6-1 and 6-4, securing her place in the quarterfinals of the National Bank Open.

“Your support was incredible. I am very happy to win today… It’s incredible. I am very happy to beat a great champion,” Mboko expressed to the crowd in French, visibly moved.

Victoria Mboko

Gauff, who has had an irregular performance since her victory at the French Open, accumulated five double faults in the match, totaling 24 unforced errors.

“She is playing high-level tennis. I think that was shown today. I think she was the better player,” Gauff commented on her opponent.

Coco Gauff

Mboko, currently ranked 85th in the world, managed to close the match against Gauff in just 1 hour and 2 minutes.

“When it was 5-4, the crowd started cheering even louder, and everything got very noisy. I used that as more fuel for myself and to cheer myself up a bit more. I just used the crowd to my advantage as much as I could,” added Mboko.

Victoria Mboko

In the next phase, Mboko will face Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who defeated China’s Lin Zhu with a score of 7-5, 6-1 and 6-2, in a match interrupted by rain that ended near midnight. In May, in Rome, Gauff had managed to defeat Mboko with a score of 3-6, 6-2 and 6-1.

“I was really thinking about that a lot during the match. I had flashbacks of when I played against her in Rome. I just remember her coming out playing even better and improving a little bit. I wanted to improve my game a little bit more and make sure I matched what she was producing, and I wanted to stay right there with her,” Mboko explained.

Victoria Mboko

Previously, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan secured their place in the quarterfinals. Kostyuk defeated McCartney Kessler of the United States with a score of 5-7, 6-3, and 6-3, while Rybakina overcame Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine with a score of 5-7, 6-2, and 7-5.