Tennis’ newest superstar Victoria Mboko is hoping to follow in Emma Raducanu’s footsteps by winning the US Open title as a teenager.
This time last year, Mboko was ranked No 351 and had just lost her opening match at a W50 in Zagreb to Eszter Meri, but fast forward 12 months and the Canadian is a WTA 1000 champion after electrifying the Montreal crowd with a scintillating run to the title.
Mboko, who turns 19 on Tuesday, became the 12th player in the Open Era to defeat four Grand Slam champions in a single tournament – Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Naomi Osaka to clinch the biggest title of her career.
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Highlights of the National Bank Open final between Mboko and Naomi Osaka
She became the first player to achieve this since Ons Jabeur and Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon 2023 and the second youngest in the Open Era following Serena Williams at the US Open 1999.
Her remarkable run in front of her home crowd propelled her to world No 24 and a seeding at Flushing Meadows, where she takes on two-time major champion Barbora Krejcikova on Monday – live on Sky Sports.
Mboko hopes to take inspiration from Raducanu’s run to the title in New York as a qualifier in 2021, and Bianca Andreescu, the 19-year-old Canadian, causing a sensation upset win against Serena Williams in 2019.
“I feel like they kind of proved that you can do anything you put your mind to. They were both kind of the underdogs coming into the Grand Slam, so it just proves that the trophy is there for everyone and that you can do anything,” she said.
“I mean, especially watching Bianca, in Canada it was huge. I was really happy for her. I just feel really happy to be here.
“Everything has happened super quickly,” Mboko admitted. “After Montreal I did a lot of talks and a lot of interviews, and that’s something that I’m not really used to as much as before, at least. I enjoy doing it. I love talking to new people and having new experiences. That’s just a part of the game and the journey.
“Looking back at it, it was really cool to experience what I got to do, and then again, it’s in the past. So I’m able to look back at it and kind of smile a bit, but there are so many more things to come in the future that I really look forward to. So I’m happy.”
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The National Bank Open final between Ben Shelton and Karen Khachanov in Toronto was halted when Canadian fans started to celebrate Mboko’s win over Naomi Osaka in Montreal
Who is Mboko?
Mboko is a player to watch at this year’s US Open
Mboko is an 18-year-old American-born, Canadian-raised tennis player and is the youngest of four tennis-playing siblings. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Congolese parents, she grew up in Toronto.
She showed promise as a junior, making her WTA Tour main-draw debut at 15 years old at the 2022 Canadian Open in the doubles draw, partnering Kayla Cross.
Her first singles appearance came at the 2022 Championnats Banque Nationale de Granby, where she received a wild card and lost to fellow Canadian Rebecca Marino. That same year, Mboko won her first professional singles title on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
Coached by former world No 3 and 1998 Wimbledon finalist Nathalie Tauziat, Mboko qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw at the French Open earlier this year, where she reached the third round, while she also pulled off an upset against 25th seed Magdalena Frech in the first round at Wimbledon.
Former Wimbledon finalist Genie Bouchard said Mboko’s rise “has been nothing short of incredible”.
The recently-retired Bouchard said: “Anyone who knew her in Canadian tennis would not be surprised. She has so much power to her game. I remember practising with her when she was 14 or 15 years old and she was smacking forehands and bowling me off the court, so we all knew she would be really good.
“I’m so happy to see it happening at such a big event like this as well. She seems to be handling the moment really well, taking it all in her stride and using it as motivation.”
After Mboko’s win over Gauff, Bouchard said: “I’m very impressed with how cool, calm and collected she was on the court. She looked much more mature than her 18 years of age. You see her on the court and she’s handling it like she’s done it a hundred times.”
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