Victoria Mboko continued her dream reach at the National Bank Open in Montreal to reach her first ever WTA Tour semi-finals.
Mboko, who is just 18-years-old, has swept her competitiors aside in a brilliant run through the tournament which is reminiscent of Emma Raducanu’s triumph at the 2022 US Open when she was a qualifier.
On Monday, Mboko defeated Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6- 2 in a competitive yet dominant match. Mboko took the lead after taking an error-filled first set but was broken at the start of the second. But, she shrugged off her sluggish start to the set and broke back in the fourth and sixth games to take a 4-2 advantage and eventually closed out the match.
The teenager’s victory comes just two days after she defeat the No. 1 seed Coco Gauff, also in straight sets, with that match lasting just 62 minutes as Mboko blasted her way into the quarter-finals.
She now faces ninth seed Elena Rybakina in the final four on Centre Court this Wednesday.
Mboko is the first Canadian to reach the WTA 1000 event's semi-finals since Bianca Andreescu's title run in 2019 and she's also the youngest woman to reach the semis since Belinda Bencic's 2015 win in Toronto.
She has only lost one set from her six matches in Montreal, that coming in the round of 32 against the Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova.
The 18-year-old has surged from outside the top 300 to a career-high No. 85 and is projected to climb to at least No. 55 according to WTA live rankings.
Rybakina, meanwhile, led Marta Kostyuk 6-1, 2-1 when the Ukrainian was forced to stop playing because of an arm injury. The players shook hands at the 54-minute mark as Kostyuk exited the court in tears.
In the other quarter-finals taking place on Tuesday, No. 6 seed Madison Keys faces Clara Tauson, and Naomi Osaka meets No. 10 seed Elina Svitolina.
The tournament final will be played on Thursday.
