2025 IWBF 3x3 Open Men's World Championships final: Canada vs Spain
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Victoria Mboko is having a moment. The 18-year-old is the latest young homegrown tennis player to grab the attention of Canadians with a run at a big tournament, following the likes of Milos Raonic, Genie Bouchard, Denis Shapovalov, Bianca Andreescu, and Leylah Fernandez. Right now, it's Ms. Mboko's time. The Torontonian has been building impressive results since the start of 2025, but none more massive than her Cinderella performance right now, as a wildcard entrant at the National Bank Open in Montreal, where she is into Wednesday's semifinals after orchestrating one upset after another. The tournament spotlight began on Ms. Bouchard, the retiring trailblazer, but once she lost out it soon shifted to the inspiring newcomer. Ms. Mboko's the last Canadian standing at the tournament, an elite WTA Masters 1000 event, where she has won four matches over higher-ranked, more experienced players on tour. 'Every day I always want to move on to the next round, and I always want to reach for the gold and reach for the championship,' said Ms. Mboko on Monday night. 'I'm just really happy.' In Montreal, she has beaten top-level players including 2020 Australian Open champion and World No. 27 Sofia Kenin and two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff, the World No. 2. There was no letdown after beating Ms. Gauff, either. Ms. Mboko followed that up with a quarterfinal dusting of Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in straight sets Monday night. Ms. Mboko is the youngest Canadian player in the Open Era to reach the semis at this event, and the youngest from any nation to achieve the feat at this tournament since Swiss star Belinda Bencic in 2015. Ms. Mboko is also navigating other big firsts in her debut main-draw appearance at this tournament – playing in featured night matches, drawing full stadiums, doing loads of interviews, and having fans crowd around her practices and follow her out after matches, seeking autographs. She headlines the WTA's website daily and has blossomed into the tournament's biggest draw. She is also the youngest of four children to parents who had fled from Democratic Republic of the Congo. She was born in North Carolina but moved to Toronto as a small child, and followed her siblings into tennis. She has been on Tennis Canada's radar since she was young. Injuries held her back in past years, but now healthy in 2025, she is showing the world what she can do. The teenager who just got her braces off has had plenty of reason to smile in Montreal. Like Ms. Gauff, Ms. Mboko's next opponent is a Grand Slam winner, No. 9 seeded Elena Rybakina. She's 26, with nine WTA titles to her name, including Wimbledon, and has made US$17-million in prize money. While now the World No. 12, she's been as high as No. 3 in recent years. Ms. Rybakina recently toppled Ms. Mboko in straight sets at the DC Open in Washington. Canadian teen Victoria Mboko's unexpected victories have put her right at centre court 'I'm not expecting an easy match whatsoever. I played her, so I know what to expect,' Ms. Mboko said. 'I just need to maybe up my level a little bit and just to stay in there with her. She has really great groundstrokes, really great serves ... I want to do my best to kind of stay in there with her.' She had been training last year with top coaches at the Justine Henin Academy in Belgium, but she wanted to return home. Tennis Canada's head of women's tennis Noelle Van Lottum helped surround her with a new team late last year, including strength and fitness experts, and French former pro Nathalie Tauziat as coach, who was a World No. 3, won eight WTA titles and was a finalist at Wimbledon in 1998. Ms. Tauziat had also coached Ms. Bouchard and Ms. Andreescu in their early years. Ms. Mboko began 2025 on a 22-match winning streak, winning four titles in a row on the lower-tier ITF circuit. She had so many trophies, she had trouble getting them all on a plane. That hot start earned her an invitation to the Miami Open, her first main draw – and subsequently her first win – at the WTA 1000 level. She caught on from there, collecting wins and building her ranking with moments like taking a set off Ms. Gauff in Rome, a run to the third round at Roland Garros, and a win at Wimbledon. 'Since the beginning of the year, she wins so many matches, so it gives you a lot of confidence,' said Ms. Tauziat when asked why the 18-year-old appears so unflinching in Montreal. 'I think what is important also for her is to see us not panic when something happens. I remember at the beginning of the year, she always told me, 'Oh, you're so calm during the match.' I say, 'You know what? It's just a match.'' After her upset win over Gauff, Mboko is the headliner in Montreal NBO The teenager speaks like a veteran pro athlete about projecting calmness on court, and staying focused on her routines as her profile at the tournament explodes. She's been showing up on a quiet back court every afternoon in Montreal, to practise with the same hitting partner. Isn't all of this tiring for a newcomer? she's asked. 'I don't feel fresh, but I also don't feel so tired,' Ms. Mboko said after her latest win. 'I think it helps that we had a day in between every single day to kind of regroup and collect myself.' Ms. Mboko has made US$458,001 in total career prize money from all of her tournaments, most of that this year. In Montreal, She'll earn her biggest winnings to date. The WTA's National Bank Open has a total prize purse of US$5,152,599. As a semi-finalist, her share would be US$206,100. As a finalist, it would be US$391,600 and if she's the tournament champ: US$752,275. Ms. Mboko began the 2025 season ranked No. 333 in the world. She arrived in Montreal ranked No. 85, and her run to the semis has already vaulted her into the top 50. Winning on Wednesday would launch the Canadian inside the top 35, while a tournament victory could vault her into the top 25. Ms. Mboko faces Ms. Rybakina in the semi-finals at 6 p.m. ET. 'She's definitely dangerous,' said Ms. Rybakina. 'She has nothing to lose, and I'm sure she's enjoying out it there. Yeah, it's going to be a tough one.'
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32 minutes ago
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