Victoria Mboko didn't even have photos on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) website before Montreal opened. Now, the 18-year-old will face four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in her first WTA Tour final of her career.
Facing the Elimination Edge in the Semi-Finals against 2022 Wimbledon Champion Elena Rybakina, wildcard entrants saved match points and were forced to impose a medical timeout in the third set to stimulate the phenomenon of hometown teenagers after the Canadian crowds motivated 1-6, 6, 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (4-6 (4) (4).
Mboko's path to final victory in 2025 French Open champions Coco Gauff, Sofia Kenin and Rybakina, which includes a trio of four Grand Slam singles champions, makes her the first Canadian to send three Grand Slam titles on the Open-Era WTA Tour.
She is also Canada’s youngest woman, reaching the final of the country’s Hallmark Championship and also her fourth match.
Apart from that, Mboko was just the third wildcard to enter the Canadian Open Women's Finals, joining the former world of Monica Seles in 1995, while Simona Halep was the feat Simona Halep in 2015. A good company.
At the end of 2024, Mboko ranked 350th. She reached 85 rankings at the end of last month. Now, regardless of the results Thursday night, she can be sure to be one of the 40 players in the world.
Mboko's only other experience in the finals was at the Parma Open, a low-level WTA 125 Championship, where she finished second in May.
“There is no words that can even describe how I feel right now. You know, nothing can prepare me for the final. If you told me last year that I would be in the final, I would say, 'You're crazy,'
Canadian flag, the logo of “Allez Vicky” and the giant cardboard cutout of Mboko's face flooded the raucous shelves of the IGA Stadium. There is no doubt that the crowd was the same when their country woman Wonderkid, who was the biggest test of her career Thursday night.
Born on August 26, 2006 in North Carolina, his parents were immigrants from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the late 1990s. The family moved to Toronto when they were young. According to the WTA, Mboko is the youngest of four siblings, picking up his racket at the age of 3 and being inspired by her three tennis siblings.
Throughout the circle, the 18-year-old told the WTA earlier this summer that she participated in the Canadian Open with her siblings as a child.
The support of her family was a driving factor in her young career. In fact, when she feels nervous, she will look for them in the stands. “The family brings us a kind of comfort, just like others can't copy it,” she said in the WTA feature.
Known for her powerful game and moves on the court, it is precisely her mentality that seems to be far beyond her 18 years old.
“I’ve been in a tight score situation and I’m a little panicked, but I really want to calm myself down and just forget the last point and always focus on the next one,” the teenager said of rallying in her semifinal victory.
2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens is passionate about Mboko's future as he watched the teenager at this year's French Open. “I hope she has all the resources she could be the best player,” Stephens told CNN Sports.
“We see her now…I think she can be a Grand Slam champion. I think she might be number one in the world.”