As Victoria Mboko knocked off one former major champion after another on her way to her first Women’s Tennis Association Tour level title, several tennis buds inquired who was this giant slayer from Canada. I then realized I may have been remiss in not preparing my followers for the emergence of this 18-year-old phenom whom I began hearing buzz about last year.
Ben Shelton, on the other hand, needed no prior introduction as he blazed through the competition to capture his third ATP title, but first at the Masters’ 1000 level. Since turning pro in 2022, Shelton has shot up the rankings on the strength of his rocket lefty serve and powerful forehand and now resides comfortably inside the top 10.
Together and individually, Mboko, and Shelton, 22, made history with their victories at this year’s Canadian Open, where the WTA and ATP tournaments are held alternately each year in Montreal and Toronto. This year, the men played in Toronto, while the women battled in Montreal.
As far as I can determine, Mboko’s and Shelton’s victories mark the first time players of color have won both tournaments at a combined event. Mboko is the youngest player since Serena at 17 to win the women’s tournament, while Shelton is the first American man to win in Canada since Andy Roddick in 2004.
For Mboko, the victory in her home tournament is the first of what is likely to be many titles for this very likeable young lady with such prodigious upside that it is almost scary to imagine how good she could become.
Consider what 2024 Olympic Gold Medalist Qinwen Zheng had to say about Mboko after defeating her in the third round of this year’s French Open in May:
“For sure, she will be one of the best players in the future,” Zheng said. “I’m one hundred percent sure because she has already got the strength, the game.”
Mboko was born in Charlotte, N.C., where her parents settled upon fleeing the ravages of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She moved to Toronto at an early age where she began playing tennis at age four, inspired by an older brother and sister who played in college.
Mboko’s junior career was nothing spectacular, although she did reach the Australian Open and Wimbledon girls doubles final in 2022. But once she turned pro, Mboko began to make some noise.
She went on a tear earlier this year in which she won 22 straight matches without losing a set and capturing four titles on the ITF circuit. In WTA Tour level competition, Mboko quickly has become an opponent no top player wants to see on her side of the draw.
After qualifying for the 2025 French Open, Mboko knocked off No.59 Eva Lys and No. 45 Lulu Sun before losing in the third round to No. 7 Qinwin Zheng.
A week before her championship run in her hometown, Mboko introduced tennis fans in the nation’s capital to her power game at the CitiOpen. She lost to Elena Rybakina in the second round in a tight match.
But Mboko got her revenge in Toronto, taking out Rybakina in the semi-finals after the former Wimbledon champion twice served for the match. Mboko showed how clutch she can be in coming back from a set down.
She did it again in the final against four-time major winner Naomi Osaka. Osaka was up a set and a break, but Mboko never flinched. Instead, she became even more aggressive.
During the pressure moments of both matches, it was the teenager who performed more like a veteran. Both Rybakina and Osaka seemed shellshocked by Mboko’s awesome display of power and precision on clutch points.
The other former major champions Mboko upset were Americans Sofia Kenin (6-2; 6-3) and Coco Gauff (6-1; 6-4), who had just a couple of months ago won the French Open for her second major title.
If they had not heard about Mboko’s big game, they could have learned from Qinwen Zheng’s post-match comments in May.
“She hits the ball really hard, and then she has a great serve,” Zheng told reporters. “She has, you know, huge power. She moves on the court really well.”
But in addition to her blistering forehands, Mboko’s poise during tense moments was particularly noted by match commentators.
“The composure she has in big moments is impressive,” said Tennis Channel’s Nicholas Monroe.
“The way she withstands pressure from top players is just tremendous,” added Nicolas Pereira, also a Tennis Channel commentator.
Ranked outside the top 300 at the start of the year, Mboko is now perched at No. 24 and will be seeded at the US Open, the final major of the year. She’s now among the players in the conversation about who will win the title.
Mboko pulled out of the Cincinnati Open, another combined WTA/ATP 1000 level tournament that most top players enter as their final hard-court tune-up before the US Open. Mboko injured her wrist in a fall during her semi-final match against Rybakina.
Rennae Stubbs, a former top doubles player and coach, said on her podcast that Mboko was wise to withdraw from the Cincinnati tournament and focus attention on the US Open comping up in a couple of weeks. She predicts Mboko will be a threat in New York.
“She is going to be really tough to beat there,” Stubbs said, “with her serving and her big shots.”
I agree. If her wrist is okay, Mboko will be a tough out for anyone she faces. But now, it should come as no surprise if she emerges victorious.
Coco watch: After losing her third-round singles match in Montreal to Victoria Mboko, Gauff did not go home empty handed. Instead, the WTA’s No. 2 player left with the doubles championship trophy she won while teaming with fellow American McCartney Kessler. The pair defeated Taylor Townsend, the current No. 1 women’s doubles player in the world, and her partner Zhang Shuai, who won the doubles crown in Washington D.C. a week earlier. It was Gauff’s 10th doubles championship, which includes the 2024 French Open title.
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TennisintheHood 