Canada’s Victoria Mboko advances to National Bank Open final

Victoria Mboko showed the fight of a champion on Wednesday, winning one of the most dramatic tennis matches you’ll ever see.

The 18-year-old Canadian is heading to the final of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers after beating No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) before a sellout crowd at IGA Stadium.

The two-hour, 46-minute match was the longest of Mboko’s WTA career. It was a match fitting of the big stage, an absolute thriller.

“The words can not even describe how I feel right now,” Mboko told Sportsnet’s Danielle Michaud on court after the match. “Nothing would have ever prepared me to be in the final. If you would have told me last year that I was going to be in the final here, I would have said you’re crazy.

“I’m truly a believer of you can do anything you aspire to do. The sky’s always the limit. I think that’s just how I like to go about things.”

After five wins over higher-ranked opponents to get her into the top 50, Mboko rebounded from a rough first set against the 2022 Wimbledon champion to send the match the distance.

But in the second game of the third set, Mboko suffered a key injury. Mboko tumbled to the court after a shot and appeared to jam her right wrist. She was seen shaking it several times afterward and took a medical timeout to get it taped up after going up 2-1.

Michaud reported Mboko told her team her hand was “numb” after the fall.

“Even though I had that little accident in the beginning of the third set, I wanted to really forget about it,” Mboko told Michaud after the win. “I was so locked in that at some point the pain kind of went away.”

Rybakina broke Mboko to go up 3-2 after the timeout, but still, the Canadian wasn’t done battling. She forced five deuces the next game and had two break-point chances, but Rybakina’s power won out — barely.

Still, Mboko wasn’t done. She fought off one match point with Rybakina serving up 5-4 and then nailed two return winners for the break to stay in it. The entire crowd then rose, bellowing “Vicky, Vicky, Vicky.”

But just like Mboko, Rybakina was resilient. She forced four deuces in the next service game and recorded the decisive break on Mboko’s ninth double-fault.

Once again, Mboko responded, however. She didn’t lose a point in the next game to break back and force a tiebreaker.

Mboko broke Rybakina to clinch the second set. She sent the crowd into a frenzy by charging in and ripping a backhand passing shot in the final game. On the next point, Rybakina went long and Mboko pumped her fist multiple times with her eyes fixed on her coaches’ box. Momentum had swung, big time.

There was so much to like about Mboko’s game Wednesday, particularly her refusal to go out without a fierce battle, along with her ruthless backhand. Equally impressive was that she wasn’t the least bit intimidated against the WTA Tour’s 2025 ace leader. Rybakina did not dominate with her first serve, which Mboko was ready and willing to challenge.

But Mboko couldn’t take a big edge with her serve, either. Overwhelming on serve for much of the tournament, including a no-break victory against top seed Coco Gauff, the powerful Mboko didn’t win a service game Wednesday until the first game of the second set.

To her credit, Mboko elevated her game after the rough start. She broke Rybakina to go up 2-0 in the second set, highlighted by an epic rally in which Mboko charged in and fired a forehand past her opponent at the net. That had the fans roaring, chanting ‘Allez Vicky’ and creating the home-court advantage that has been such a big part of this memorable week.

Another break put Mboko in position to serve for the set, but she proceeded to double-fault on the first two points in a messy game that ended with a return winner for Rybakina on the Canadian’s second serve. Rybakina feasted on that second serve for parts of the match, so it will be something worth discussing for Mboko’s camp.

An unforced error by Mboko gave Rybakina the break to get back on serve midway through the second set.

Rybakina beat her in straight sets in the round of 16 two weeks ago in Washington.

She’s one of the few players to solve Mboko this year. After Wednesday’s win, the Canadian’s record is now 52-9.

Not bad for someone who was ranked outside the top 300 at the start of the year.

One year ago this week, Mboko was playing in a tiny tournament in Croatia. She lost her first match to then-world No. 560 Eszter Meri in straight sets. The Slovakian is currently ranked 833rd, not even in the same universe as her opponent from that day.

Mboko will face the winner of the Naomi Osaka-Clara Tauson semifinal in Thursday’s final.

There were too many mistakes for Mboko to overcome in the first set against an in-form, dangerous opponent with her own huge serve. While Mboko got away with plenty of unforced errors in Monday’s quarterfinal win over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Rybakina wasn’t nearly as kind.

Rybakina needed only 31 minutes to win a one-sided first set, breaking Mboko in all three of her service games. Mboko double-faulted once in each of those three games.

If Mboko didn’t get her first serve in, she was in big trouble. She won just one of nine points on second serve (11.1 per cent).

Conversely, Mboko couldn’t take advantage of Rybakina’s second serve, with the Kazakh winning 11 of those 13 points (84.6 per cent).

Mboko broke Rybakina after falling behind 2-0, but then missed an easy shot to tie it in the next game, giving her opponent the opening she needed for another break.

Mboko has been the talk of the town for her efforts.

“Not overly surprised she’s having the tournament of her career so far and will not be surprised if she has more very great results. She’s a fantastic tennis player,” No. 6 seed Madison Keys said Tuesday night.

Added Tauson on Tuesday: “I think she’s serving well. I think her backhand is obviously a big weapon. I think she has a lot of confidence and you can see that in her game as well.”

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Fans celebrate Mboko’s historic semifinal win in Montreal

Mboko’s comeback win had the Montreal crowd on its feet — and fans didn’t hold back in sharing just how much the moment meant to them.

Carmen Leblanc, who came from Ottawa, has followed the WTA for years and regularly attends the tournament.

“I go every year. I was in Toronto last year and they went to Europe this year, so I followed the WTA at least when they play in Canada,” she said. “My dream is to go to Europe — to Roland Garros or Wimbledon — but I’ll settle for Montreal and Toronto for now.”

She said Mboko’s success gave Canadian fans something to cheer for after the rest of the country’s players were knocked out.

“It’s wonderful for the city because all the other Canadians had been eliminated,” Leblanc said. “We also get to discover who she is, because a lot of people haven’t followed her career since the beginning of this year, which has been great.”

Jane Castor also came to support Mboko after seeing her earlier in the tournament.

“It’s been a huge surprise, basically for everyone — and also for Canadian tennis in general,” she said. “I saw her play the first time, I think in the round of 16 against Coco Gauff. It was an amazing experience. The crowd was wild and Victoria played so well,” she said.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a Canadian represent this tournament. It’s been exciting and it’s been an exciting week for everyone here,” Castor added.

Bonnie, another fan in the crowd, said she felt a personal connection to Mboko’s rise.

“I’m here to watch Vicky’s match. I’m so excited for her. She’s very young and she came up to this level — and she’s the same age as my daughter,” she said. “My daughter is a tennis fan and she plays tennis — so go Vicky go.”

She said Mboko is exactly the kind of athlete young players need to see.

“She’s amazing. She’s strong in the mind and in the body — and the technique, of course.”

Steven, visiting from Jersey, said the whole experience of the tournament impressed him — including the young Canadian’s performance.

“This is a great stadium. We love it,” he said. “Montreal is great. Come for the food, the people, and then the tennis.”

All around the stadium, fans were locked into every moment. One man said the match left him stunned.

“She kept us on our toes the whole time. It was amazing. Really good,” he said.

“I don’t follow tennis very much, but she’s giving me goosebumps,” he added.

Another described the atmosphere as unforgettable.

“That was a gutsy performance. I thought she was going to be nervous, but she was not. She hung on. The crowd thinks we just won the Cup. It’s amazing in there. Electric.”

He said if Mboko wins the final, the crowd will go wild again.

“If she wins — it’s going to be even louder and crazier in there. I think I’m going to come back.”

A man leaving the stadium simply said, “It was a great game. We’re really proud of Victoria Mboko.”

Another woman nearby added, “She’s it. She’s like amazing. She’s incredible and she’s a really strong player. And we’re really proud of her.”

One fan said, “She worked hard. And she’s really convincing me that she’s the next good player in Canada.”

A mother and daughter, both smiling, were thrilled to be part of the experience.

“Mboko is Canadian, so we’re super happy to be here,” said the mom.

Her daughter added, “We love it.”

Another fan called it, “a great night for Canadian tennis.”

And another said, “We had a wonderful time and a great victory tonight.”

Mboko’s mom was also in the stands, watching every point.

“I feel really good. I am really happy for Victoria. I am really happy,” she said.

“I was really nervous but she played well.”