Victoria Mboko Summarizes Intense Childhood After Scripting History by Reaching Canadian Open Semifinals

Teen sensation Victoria Mboko will lock horns with Elena Rybakina in the semifinal of the Canadian Open.

Victoria Mboko Summarizes Intense Childhood After Scripting History by Reaching Canadian Open Semifinals

Victoria Mboko (Image via X/Team Canada)

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Victoria Mboko in the Canadian Open is doing nothing but impressing the watchers of her matches. The newcomer is having a breakthrough season, and she is aiming for only success and nothing else.

She made her Grand Slam main draw debut this year after playing the qualifiers for the first time in her career. Mboko did not play the Australian Open. But at the French Open, her run ended not before the third round, where 2024 Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng knocked her out in straight sets.

At Wimbledon, then, Hailey Baptiste stopped her from reaching the third round. Apart from these two Majors, the teen sensation also reached the second round of both the Miami Open and the Italian Open.

And now, she has made history by reaching the semifinals of the Canadian Open, becoming the youngest player since Belinda Bencic to reach the last four of the event. After securing a fourth-round win over Coco Gauff and reaching the quarterfinals, she became the youngest Canadian since Helen Kelesi in 1987 to reach the stage in the tournament.

Her impressive feats at the age of 18 are a result of her intense childhood. During an interview with L’Equipe, the teenager credited her rigid daily routine for her performances this season.

I would wake up at 5 a.m., train from 6 to 8, go to school until 2 p.m., before another tennis training session from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and physical training to finish the day. Those many hours helped me; the result is there today.

Before reaching the last four, Mboko knocked reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys out in the quarterfinals. Now she has another challenge to tackle in the form of Elena Rybakina, who secured a spot in the Canadian Open semifinal for the second time after receiving a walkover from Marta Kostyuk.

Victoria Mboko shares whether she will play at the Cincinnati Open

After the Canadian Open, the tennis world’s focus will shift toward the Cincinnati Masters, the second combined WTA and ATP 1000 on the North American hard-court swing. Victoria Mboko’s name is on the entry list, but she is uncertain whether she wants to play the event or not.

Victoria Mboko
Victoria Mboko (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

Well, right now, I mean, I’m entered in, but I’m not sure. I want to see how I’m going to do here first. It’s still up in the air. Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know.

Victoria Mboko said at the press conference

Mboko has faced her semifinal opponent, Elena Rybakina, once: in the fourth round of this year’s Citi Open, which the Kazakh ace won in straight sets. While Mboko is chasing her career’s first WTA 1000 title, the 2022 Wimbledon champion already has two titles of this category under her belt: the 2023 Indian Wells and the 2023 Italian Open. Rybakina hasn’t yet reached a WTA 1000 final since the 2024 Miami Open, where home favorite Danielle Collins denied her the win.

Victoria Mboko on her mentality after beating Coco Gauff

Mboko has tied her head-to-head record over Gauff to 1-1. Before the Canadian, they faced each other in the second round of this year’s Italian Open, which Gauff won before reaching the final and losing the match to Jasmine Paolini. But Mboko is not satisfied with only beating Gauff because her goal is to win the tournament.

Coco Gauff, Victoria Mboko (2)
Coco Gauff, Victoria Mboko (Image via X/Team Canada)

I won that day, but you know, at the end of the day, I’m still in the tournament, so it’s not like I went to celebrate or anything like I was still kind of locked in, like I normally am in a tournament. You know you play a tournament because you want to win it. So I think I just had that kind of mentality.

Gauff, in the Cincinnati Open, will aim to win the title for the second time in her career. She won the title in 2023 by beating Karolina Muchova.

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