Victoria Mboko‘s dream run continues in Montreal! The 18-year-old Canadian had previously stunned everyone by defeating the two-time Grand Slam winner, Coco Gauff, in the R16 of the Canadian Open. Following her first Top 10 win of her life, she was in complete disbelief. After the victory, she covered her face with her hands before approaching the net to hug the world number 2. After securing one of the biggest wins in her career, Mboko described the feeling as “a special experience.” She also made it clear that she has no intention of slowing down or being complacent!

“You play a tournament because you want to win it,” said the Canadian. Riding into the tournament with the same momentum, she dismissed Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the QF by 6-4,6-2. She reached her first-ever WTA 1000 SF at the age of 18 on her home ground. But that’s not all! She has now also defeated the 2022 Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina, in the SF match by 1-6,7-5,7-6(4).

This marks her third victory over a Grand Slam winner (after beating Sofia Kenin and Coco Gauff in previous rounds) in this tournament. Mboko is the first and youngest Canadian to do this in a single WTA event in the Open Era. Mboko is aiming for the stars and beyond!

Victoria Mboko was ranked outside of the top 300 at the start of this year. Coco Gauff‘s ex-coach, Brad Gilbert, shared a post on X reacting to Mboko’s victory. “What a great effort from Mboko taking out Ryba and the crowd was absolutely 💯 rocking, she definitely 👍 is need of a nickname.” 

If you’re wondering what Gilbert is referring to, allow us to give you examples. In the world of tennis, fans have often christened their favorite players based on their on and off-court personality alongside their playing styles/strengths. For instance, Rafael Nadal is fondly known as the king of clay, since his dominance on clay courts is unmatched to this day. Alex de Minaur is ‘the demon’, a wordplay combining his name and his offensive style of playing.

Aryna Sabalenka is ‘the tiger’ for her tattoo of a roaring tiger, tenacity and aggression on court. In the initial days of Gauff’s career, she was touted to be ‘the next Serena’. By that logic, what would Mboko’s moniker be? Mostly that’s for fans to decide and for us to propagate. No one is as victorious as Victoria. She is a simile on her own.

Mboko saved a match point in the third set and broke Elena Rybakina twice to force the tiebreaker in this epic battle. She’s now looking forward to becoming the first local champion since Bianca Andreescu (in 2019). Her post-match reaction was just pure elation.

Victoria Mboko thanks the crowd for their incredible support

This was her second meeting with Elena Rybakina. Despite losing the first set, Mboko never really looked outclassed in this match. Her incredible resilience and hunger to do well against the top players yet again shone through. After securing the match point, Victoria Mboko dropped to the court, and chants of “Allez Vicky” erupted across the stadium.

During her post-match interview, Victoria Mboko addressed the crowd in French, saying, “Incredible match, thank you to everyone for supporting me. It was really difficult, but anything can happen.“

It seems Mboko has now made it her trend to draw appreciation from her opponents. After her R16 match, Coco Gauff addressed the comparisons that arose between her and Victoria Mboko. Gauff refrained from feeding into those comparisons, claiming Mboko is a different player and a completely different person. However, she didn’t refrain from heaping praise on the teenager, saying she has a bright future.

“I mean, 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,” said Gauff. She hopes to face her more in the near future. Just like Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina recently showered praise on Victoria Mboko for her brilliance in the SF match. She hailed her as a “tough opponent” and went on to add, “I think that she served really well in these important moments…Overall, I think it was a very close match, like big fight. So it could go any way, but went hers. I think she played also really well.“

With this win, Victoria Mboko has now taken her H2H record to 1-1 against Rybakina. She’ll now be facing the four-time Grand Slam champion, Naomi Osaka, in the final. Can Mboko secure yet another victory against a Grand Slam winner in this tournament?