Victoria Mboko tops Aussie Kimberly Birrell in National Bank Open debut

Globe and Mail

6 days ago

Toronto's Victoria Mboko made good on her first impression in front of the Montreal faithful Sunday in opening-round action at the National Bank Open tennis tournament.
Mboko, making her main draw debut on home soil, powered her way past Australia's Kimberly Birrell 7-5, 6-3, on a scorching afternoon on IGA Stadium's Centre Court.
Mboko utilized her big and powerful service game, hammering 15 aces, which regularly exceeded 180 km/h. She also mixed in some solid forehand winners to energize the crowd all throughout her 90-plus minutes spent on court.
Mboko got off to a strong start, breaking Birrell on the Aussie's opening service game to go up 2-0. However, Birrell immediately broke back the following game.
Both players held serve until the set's 12th and final game, with Mboko breaking the serve of her opponent to take the opener 7-5.
Mboko was gifted a break in the fourth game of the second set, with Birrell committing a costly double-fault to put the Canadian ahead 3-1. Mboko never looked back from there, holding serve three times to pull away with the straight-sets victory.
The 18-year-old Mboko, currently ranked No. 88 in the world, was one of seven Canadians awarded a wild card into the WTA 1000 main draw. Although she was born in North Carolina, Mboko moved to Toronto as a young child with her family and represents Canada on tour.
Mboko has enjoyed a meteoric rise up the WTA rankings in 2025, having started the season as the 350th-ranked player in the world. Mboko improved to 46-8 this season across all competitions thanks to Sunday's victory, which also included a stretch of 22 consecutive match wins – all in straight sets - at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Challenger tour level.
Mboko also impressed at the Grand Slam level, qualifying for both the French Open and Wimbledon this season, where she reached the third and second round, respectively.
Mboko's first-round win sets up a meeting with American Sofia Kenin in the second round. The 23rd-seeded Kenin earned an automatic bye into the second round by virtue of her ranking.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., opened Centre Court action earlier in the day, falling to Romania's Jaqueline Cristian 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in her first-round match.
'I think I came out pretty strong and played well in the first set,' the 20-year-old Stakusic said. 'She just kept hanging in there. She didn't give me many free points and she served really well. She was pretty level-headed the whole match.'
The 142nd-ranked Stakusic, in her fourth appearance at the NBO, was making her main draw debut in Montreal after bowing out in the second round of last year's tournament held in Toronto.
2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova also advanced to the second round for the second straight time in Montreal, dispatching 20-year-old Philippine phenom Alexandra Eala 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a spirited three-set battle.
The night session will feature a pair of Canadian veterans on Centre Court.
Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., will match up against two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova. The 25-year-old Canadian, who won the NBO in Toronto in 2019, is coming off a strong showing at the Hopman Cup last week in Italy, as she teamed up with Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime to capture the exhibition team tournament.
Vancouver's Rebecca Marino will take on French qualifier Elsa Jacquemot. The 34-year-old Marino has struggled this season, winning just one WTA Tour-level match all year.
Sunday marks the start of a revamped 12-day, 96-player format. Action continues daily at IGA Stadium through to the final on Aug. 7.