Victoria Mboko continued her fairytale run at the National Bank Open with a gutsy comeback win over former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
The 18-year-old held her nerve to prevail 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(4), at her home tournament where she is making her main draw debut. After losing the opener in just over half an hour, Mboko battled back in the second set, where she broke Rybakina three times. Then in the decider, she recovered from 3-5 down to draw level before going on to prevail in the tiebreak.
“In a tiebreaker every point counts. I really put emphasis on that, especially in that kind of moment where I had that really long point,” Mboko told reporters during her press conference.
“I wanted to, as much as I can, put as many balls in the court and to fight as hard as I possibly could. So, I wanted to stay really calm as well, because it’s an incredibly stressful moment. I feel like I’ve been in situations where the score was tight, and I kind of panicked a little bit, but I really wanted to calm myself down and forget about the last point and always focus on the next.”
During her latest match, Mboko suffered an injury scare following a fall early on in the second set. The Canadian fell awkwardly behind the baseline and landed on her wrist. She then took a medical timeout to get it taped before continuing the match.
“It’s feeling a lot better. When I fell in the match it was a lot of emotions,” she explained.
“It was during the match, a lot of adrenaline. It was kind of a little bit painful during that, but it’s definitely cooled down a lot more.
“I’m just going to take care of it and just have some rest.”
Mboko is the fourth youngest woman to reach the final of the Canadian Open after Belinda Bencic (2015), Ana Ivanovic (2006) and Serena Williams (2000). She is also the first Canadian female player to have beaten three former Grand Slam champions at the same tournament. Earlier in the draw, she also scored wins over Coco Gauff and Sofia Kenin.
The rising star started 2025 outside the top 300 but has rapidly risen up the standings to a current position of 85th. Earlier this year, she won five titles on the lower-level ITF circuit, reached the final of a WTA 125 event in Italy and made it to the third round of the French Open as a qualifier.
Osaka awaits
In Thursday’s final, Mboko will face a resurgent Naomi Osaka, who is through to the biggest final of her career since 2022. The four-time Grand Slam champion beat Denmark’s Clara Tauson 6-2, 7-6(7), saving seven out of nine break points faced and winning 75% of her first service points.
The upcoming final will be the third match in a row Osaka has played in as many days, but she has no concerns about her current fitness levels.
“I think for me, I’m a really fast healer anyway, regardless. That’s always been a really good trait of mine. I’ve also been the type that feels better the more matches I play,” she explained.
“I feel pretty good. So hopefully that’s good enough to play against a teenager, because I know she’ll be feeling great.”
In the past, Mboko has described Osaka as one of her idols. Something the former world No.1 described as ‘really cute’ when she was told of this by a journalist on Wednesday.
“I guess I have to have a really good attitude tomorrow. I can’t let her not like me anymore,” she joked.
“It’s funny because I saw her on TV, and I was low-key, like, That’s my little twin, because we both have our blue dresses and our buns and everything.
“I’m really honoured. I always said that I would love to play someone that looked up to me in a way, so it’s happening way sooner than I thought it would.”
Mboko’s showdown with Osaka will be the first Canadian Open women’s final between two unseeded players since 1979.
