After a fairytale run at her home WTA 1000 event in Canada, Victoria Mboko came crashing down to earth at the US Open on Monday.
The 22nd seed was far from her best as she was swept aside 6-3, 6-2, by Barbora Krejcíkova in the first round, who is currently ranked 39 places lower than her at 62nd in the world. Mboko took to the court with heavy strapping on her right wrist, and there was a noticeable drop in her serve speed as the match progressed. Overall, she hit 10 double faults and produced 30 unforced errors.
As a result, two-time Grand Slam champion Krejcíkova eased to only her seventh main draw win at the tournament in her career. The Czech has previously won the US Open doubles title in 2022, as well as reaching the singles quarter-finals in 2021.
“I’m very happy today with the serving,” Krejcíkova said during her on-court interview.
“I think overall the game was really good. I was improving, so I’m really happy with that.”
Mboko, who started 2025 outside the top 300, came into New York on a seven-match winning streak after claiming the Canadian Open title. At that tournament, she scored four wins over former Grand Slam champions en route to the title despite nursing a wrist issue she sustained at the same event after falling awkwardly during one of her matches. She then opted to skip Cincinnati due to the problem, which continues to trouble her.
“It’s huge what she has achieved already and how well she played,” Krejcíkova commented on Mboko’s Montreal run.
“I was watching it, I was really happy that she made it because it’s a huge victory for her. So good luck to her.”
Krejcíkova is enjoying a recent surge in her form on the Tour. Earlier this month, she won three matches in a row for the first time this season at the Cincinnati Open, scoring a win over world No.15 Elina Svitolina. She missed the first four months of 2025 due to injury.
“As of now, yes. I don’t know what’s going to be tomorrow,” she replied when asked if her body is holding up.
Awaiting Krejcíkova in the second round in New York will be Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, who won her opening match on Sunday. Should she win, it will be the second time in her career that she has made it through to the third round.
