Sensation Victoria Mboko takes on Coco Gauff in Montreal

First victory against a top 10 player, first quarterfinal on the WTA Tour... Victoria Mboko had a dream evening in front of her Canadian crowd in Montreal on Saturday. Coming out of qualifying, the player who was only 333rd in the world at the start of the year (now a virtual 53rd) took on the tournament's number 1 seed, Coco Gauff. And with panache, to boot. 6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour and 2 minutes.

After a quick first set, losing just one game and spending 25 minutes on court, the Canadian sensation of the week (18 years old) was able to take advantage of the nervousness of her American opponent, who never seemed to find her rhythm on serve (42.6% first serve, 6 double faults). Gauff, who had already been pushed to her limits by Mboko in Rome in May (3-6, 6-2, 6-1), had the opportunity to reverse the trend at 3-3 in the second set, but the young Canadian hung on, saving four break points.

Now on the verge of the top 30, Mboko will face Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, world number 51, for a place in the semi-finals on Monday.

In the other matches of the day, Kazakh Elena Rybakina (26 years old, 12th) was hampered by her serve (9 double faults) but finally beat Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska (5-7, 6-2, 7-5). Rybakina, crowned at Wimbledon in 2022, will meet another Ukrainian, Marta Kostyuk (23 years old, 28th), in the quarter-finals, who defeated American McCartney Kessler (26 years old, 32nd) in three sets (5-7, 6-3, 6-3).