Teen Victoria Mboko upsets Elena Rybakina to book Canadian Open final with Naomi Osaka
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Victoria Mboko has beaten Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina and will next face Naomi Osaka in the Canadian Open final.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MONTREAL – Victoria Mboko credited being “patient” as she survived a first-set wobble to battle to a 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) win over 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina at the Canadian Open on Aug 6.
In doing so, she set up a final showdown in Montreal with Naomi Osaka on Aug 7 (Aug 8, Singapore time), while top seed Alexander Zverev was stunned by Karen Khachanov, who will meet Ben Shelton in the men’s final of the event in Toronto.
Mboko, ranked 85th in the world, saved a match point against Kazakh ninth seed Rybakina in front of adoring home support, as the 18-year-old became the first Canadian to beat three former Grand Slam champions in a single WTA event in the Open Era.
She has beaten 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, French and US Opens champion Coco Gauff and Rybakina in her stunning run to the final.
She is also just the third wild card to reach the final at the Canadian Open in the Open Era after Monica Seles in 1995 and Simona Halep in 2015.
“I had everyone supporting me and pushing me through. Without you guys, I don’t think I would’ve been able to pull this through,” Mboko said after reaching her first WTA 1000 final.
“I’m happy that I kept my composure and I was kind of patient in the right moments.”
Meanwhile, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka booked a place in a WTA 1000 final for the first time since Miami 2022 after another impressive display, beating Danish 16th seed Clara Tauson 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) in the second semi-final.
The 27-year-old Osaka, a former world No. 1, is the first Japanese player in the Open Era to reach the final at the Canadian Open.
“Definitely really happy,” said Osaka, who started the week ranked 49th in the world. “(I’m) excited to play my first hard-court final back.”
She added that Mboko’s rebound from match point down was “really impressive for an 18-year-old”.
“I watched her play today because they were the match in front of us. I thought it was really impressive how she stayed calm,” she said.
In the men’s tournament, Zverev, a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, lost 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) to Russian 11th seed Khachanov in the last four.
Khachanov, who will climb to 12th in the world rankings, also saved a match point to reach his second ATP Masters 1000 final, with the previous coming at Paris in 2018 where he upset Novak Djokovic.
“I had to dig deep and lift my level. It was a very demanding, very mental, very physical match. So I’m very happy to get the win after losing some easy ones to him in recent years,” Khachanov, who lost the last three encounters against Zverev, said after their near three-hour battle.
“Today was real close. I was match point down.”
Khachanov will face American fourth seed Shelton, who upset second-seeded countryman Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 to become the youngest American to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final since Andy Roddick in Toronto in 2004, in the final.
Australian Open semi-finalist Shelton, 22, will be playing his first ATP Masters 1000 final when he takes on Khachanov.
“I’m just looking for things in my game to just kind of improve and I’ve seen so many big improvements this week.
“So, that’s what I’m most happy about – the way I’m playing,” Shelton said. REUTERS, AFP
