Victoria Mboko reaches Canadian Open final

Montreal (The Uttam Hindu): Young Canadian tennis player Victoria Mboko has reached the final of the Canadian Open. 18-year-old Mboko entered the final by defeating ninth seed Elena Rybakina 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4).

Mboko also set a unique record by reaching the final. She became the first Canadian player in the Open Era to defeat three former Grand Slam champions (Rybakina, Coco Gauff, and Sofia Kenin) at the same WTA event.

Victoria Mboko has become the fourth Canadian player to reach the final of this prestigious event. Before her, Faye Urban (1968 and 1969), Vicki Berner (1969) and Bianca Andreescu (2019) have made it to the final. Mboko is also the youngest player to reach the final.

Mboko had a wildcard entry. She has become the third player to enter the tournament as a wildcard player and reach the Open Era final. Before her, Monica Seles (1995) and Simona Halep (2015) had reached the final as wildcard players.

Victoria Mboko, extremely excited by the victory, said in the press conference, “Every point matters in the tiebreaker. I was focused on this. I wanted to put as many balls in the court as possible and put in as much power as possible. There are very tense moments during the match, so I was also trying to keep myself calm and was always focusing on the next point.”

In the final, Mboko will face four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka of Japan. Osaka has made it to her first WTA 1000-level final since 2022. Osaka made it to the final by defeating 16th seed Clara Tauson in the nightcap. Mboko and Osaka are expected to have a very exciting final, which will be played on Thursday.