Canadian teen sensation Victoria Mboko makes top-20 debut in rookie season
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Canada's Victoria Mboko in action during her quarter-final match against Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina at the Pan Pacific Open.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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HONG KONG – The tennis world took notice when Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko won the Montreal title in August with victories over four Grand Slam champions along the way, and the Serena Williams comparisons were not far behind.
The parallels with the 23-time Grand Slam champion were not misplaced.
Mboko became the youngest player since Williams to defeat four Major winners in a tournament when she downed Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Naomi Osaka to claim the WTA 1000 crown
The 19-year-old rookie went on to prove that triumph was no fluke, backing it up with the Hong Kong title on Nov 2 when she outlasted Spaniard Cristina Bucsa 7-5, 6-7 (9-11), 6-2 in the longest tour-level final of the season.
Ranked 350th in the world this time in 2024, Mboko stormed into the top 20 for the first time when the list was updated on Nov 3. She now sits 18th with an impressive win-loss record of 60-14 in 2025.
“It feels really nice to finish the season with a win. I try to stay calm and not put too many expectations on myself,” Mboko said, after battling for two hours and 49 minutes in Hong Kong.
Born in the United States to parents who fled political unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mboko moved to Canada as a child and began hitting balls on a court in Ontario aged four.
An aggressive baseliner with a big serve, Mboko developed her game around taking the initiative, but it was her fighting spirit that came to the fore last week. Four of her five wins came in three sets.
Mboko’s fearless brand of tennis is another aspect that has caught the attention of analysts and coaches, including Williams’ former mentor Patrick Mouratoglou.
“Number one asset of Victoria Mboko, she has no respect,” Mouratoglou said in an Instagram post in August.
“It doesn’t mean she’s disrespectful. It means she doesn’t look up to players thinking ‘wow! I cannot beat that player’. No, she plays to win, whoever is on the other side of the court.
“It’s difficult to think that she’s not going to win Grand Slams... she controls the court.”
Coach Rick Macci – who has developed many stars, including Williams and her sister Venus – believes it is only a matter of time before Mboko cracks the top five.
“She’s the real deal,” he wrote on X during her run to the Montreal title before she turned 19. “At 18 her career has just begun.” REUTERS
