“I am just so excited to be here and to advance to the next round. This is the furthest I’ve gone in a 1000, it’s so exciting.” Local talent and this week’s Canadian Open sensation, Victoria Mboko, couldn’t control her emotions after earning a rare career feat. This season, the 18-year-old has shown tremendous growth across the events, displaying promising prowess. But the cherry on top is her home ground stretch which has been mind-boggling. After besting an ex-slam champion, Sofia Kenin, and then a strong Czechian rival in Bouzkova, she’s set for her biggest matchup yet at the WTA 1000 event. The Canadian will lock horns with 2025 French Open queen Coco Gauff. While the hype may favor the latter, a former tennis icon and renowned coach puts the teenager on a high pedestal.
Mboko’s run in Montreal has been magical, to say the least. She kicked off her journey with a straight-set win over Australia’s Kimberley Birrell (7-5, 6-3) before ousting America’s Kenin in a similar fashion (6-2, 6-3). Her last encounter was a scintillating victory over Marie Bouzkova, crawling back from the brink of defeat. Bouzkova snatched the first set, but Mboko was unrelenting. She made an inspirational return, pushing the match into a decider. Eventually, she entered the R16 with a final scoreline of 1-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Mboko’s domination of Bouzkova, despite the initial hiccups, earned flowers from top coach and ex-WTA pro Rennae Stubbs. Although her next opponent is Gauff, Stubbs believes the 18-year-old is “a lovely young woman too.” Moreover, she underlined that Canada’s got “Lots of talent.”
She’s a lovely young woman too. Lots of talent.
— Rennae Stubbs (@rennaestubbs) August 1, 2025
Mboko was relieved after besting Bouzkova. During the post-match interview, she confessed, “I feel like I had a really shaky start and I wanted to go to the bathroom to reset and take my time. I wanted to come into the next set with a different mentality, and I mean, it helped a little bit.”
Following her triumph in the R32, Mboko became the second youngest Canadian woman, at 18 years and 336 days, to enter the fourth round in Montreal. Before her, compatriot and ex-pro Helen Kelesi (18 years and 273 days) had first achieved this feat in 1988.
As of now, the hype is mounting ahead of the much anticipated battle between Gauff and Mboko. But the question lingers: is the teenager going to let her nerves get the best of her in her face-off against the American who has already won against her?
Victoria Mboko shares candid take on facing Coco Gauff, again
For the uninitiated, Coco Gauff leads the H2H tally 1-0 against Victoria Mboko. Their only meeting took place earlier this season at the Italian Open. In the R64, the American won, but it wasn’t smooth-sailing. Mboko took the first set and pushed Gauff to her limits. Eventually, the 21-year-old entered the next round after managing to take the deciding set.
Gauff knows the upcoming rematch won’t be easy for her. And guess what? She made her feelings evident as well. After winning her own R32 match recently, she opened up about facing Mboko again. “Yeah she’s, I mean, a great player. I mean we played on clay, so it might be a little, will be a different match. And obviously she’s gotten more experience just being on tour, playing high-level players.”
She emphasized that the battle won’t be a cakewalk. And that Mboko will give her a “tough” fight. Gauff lauded the teenager, saying, “she’s definitely playing like one of the top players in the world right now. And her ranking will definitely match that soon. So yeah, it will be a tough match.” When Mboko was asked about her matchup with Gauff, she simply said, “I mean, I’m really excited for it,”
Without being hesitant or nervous, the Canadian prodigy added, “She’s the number one seed of this tournament and, I’ve played her before and I know what I’m going to expect. I’m going to really expect a hard fight. So, I mean it’s always great to play such incredible athletes and incredible players like her and I think it’s just going to be a really fun experience again.”
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