Sensation Victoria Mboko reaches the final of the WTA 1000 in Montreal

Victoria Mboko caused a sensation by beating Elena Rybakina (1-6, 7-5, 7-6 [4]) and qualified for the WTA 1000 final in Montreal this Thursday. Ranked 85th in the world and benefiting from an invitation, the young 18-year-old Canadian will face Naomi Osaka, who won in the semi-finals against the Danish Clara Tauson (6-2, 7-6 [7]).

The tournament's revelation, carried by an increasingly electric crowd, Mboko has just one more step to take to win the third WTA 1000 tournament in which she participates. "It was an incredible match. Thank you to everyone who supported me. It was electric, I'm very happy. It was very difficult, I'm very tired, " said the young woman, the first Canadian finalist of the tournament since Bianca Andreescu in 2019, in French into the stadium microphone.

Only 350th in the world at the end of 2024, Mboko had a great year in 2025 (four tournaments won on the secondary circuit, third round reached at Roland-Garros) and will enter the top 35 players in the world at the end of the tournament.

After knocking out world No. 2 Coco Gauff in the round of 16, Victoria Mboko finally overcame WTA No. 12 Rybakina by saving a match point in a wild third set. Mboko fell early in the final set and required treatment on her right wrist before resuming her momentum.

Rybakina, who beat the Canadian two weeks ago in Washington, served for the match twice, including at 5-4 in the third set, a game that saw her miss the unmissable net shot at 15-15. The Kazakhstani then missed a match point at the end of that same game before suffering a powerful return from the Canadian, who came back to 5-5.

Mboko, alternating between big forehand slaps and infuriating double faults (11 in total), finally pushed the Kazakhstani into a tiebreak. Rybakina tensed up in the tiebreak, committing four forehand errors, notably on the first match point in the Canadian's favor, who finished in 2 hours and 46 minutes, before embracing her coach, the Frenchwoman Nathalie Tauziat.