Victoria Mboko Advances to Semifinals in Montreal
Canadian young tennis player Victoria Mboko has achieved a milestone in her career by advancing to the semifinals of the WTA Tour for the first time. Mboko, only 18 years old, achieved this important victory after defeating the Spanish player Jessica Bouzas Maneiro with a score of 6-4 and 6-2 at the National Bank Open in Montreal.
This victory comes two days after Mboko surprised the tennis world by defeating the world number one, Coco Gauff, in just 62 minutes.
After a close first set, Mboko showed determination and control. Although she suffered a break at the beginning of the second set, she managed to recover, breaking her opponent’s serve in the fourth and sixth games to take a 4-2 lead.
Mboko becomes the first Canadian to reach the semifinals of this WTA 1000 event since Bianca Andreescu’s victory in 2019. Furthermore, she is the youngest player to reach this stage since Belinda Bencic in 2015.
In the semifinals, Mboko will face Elena Rybakina, who was leading Marta Kostyuk with a score of 6-1 and 2-1 when the Ukrainian was forced to retire due to an arm injury.
Rybakina, ninth seed, converted three of her ten break point opportunities in the quarterfinal match at IGA Stadium. The match lasted 54 minutes, and Kostyuk left the court in tears.
So far this year, Mboko has had an impressive rise, going from outside the top 300 to reaching number 85, the highest position of her career. This position is expected to rise to at least number 55 according to the WTA live ranking.
After two years marked by injuries, Mboko, who had already shown her potential as a junior, started the season with a streak of 22 consecutive victories and won five titles on the ITF circuit.
Subsequently, she qualified for the main draw of her first Grand Slam at the French Open, reaching the third round. Then, she surprised by defeating Magdalena Frech in the first round of Wimbledon.
In Montreal, Mboko has demonstrated her ability by defeating Kimberly Birrell, Sofia Kenin, Marie Bouzkova, and Coco Gauff.
Her recent victory improved her record to 25-8 against higher-ranked players and to 51-9 in all competitions.
In the other quarterfinals on Tuesday, sixth seed Madison Keys will face Clara Tauson, and Naomi Osaka will play against Elina Svitolina. The tournament final is scheduled for Thursday.
