In one of the most fascinating stories in quite some time, Canadian Victoria Mboko is a Masters 1000 tennis champion. On Thursday night at IGA Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Mboko won the National Bank Open (her home tournament) by beating four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan in the final, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.
What we saw over the last 12 days was the meteoric rise in the WTA standings for this 18-year-old from Burlington, Ontario. Mboko went from 85th in the world to 24th. A 61 place rise in the world rankings is incredible when you take into consideration Mboko’s first ever WTA event was in Miami this year.
Mboko’s resiliency deserves high praise. Three times in the tournament, she was clobbered in the first set, but came back to take the victory. Mboko also beat Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 in round three, and the ninth seed and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 in the semifinals.
If there is one area Mboko needs to improve, it is service accuracy. She had 10 double faults against Bouzkova, 11 double faults against Rybakina, and 13 double faults against Osaka.
Mboko’s other impressive win during the National Bank Open came during the fourth round. On Saturday night, Mboko beat world number two and two-time major champion Coco Gauff of the United States, 6-1, 6-4 in a dominant performance.
On the men’s side in Toronto, Ben Shelton of Atlanta, Georgia won his third ATP event of his career. As the number four seed, he defeated the 11th seed Karen Khachanov of Russia, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6. Shelton had 16 aces compared to three for Khachanov. Shelton had previously won the 2023 Japan Open and the 2024 United States Clay Court Championship in Houston.
Over the last 10 days in Toronto, Shelton’s other notable win came in the semifinal. There he upset the second seed Taylor Fritz of the United States, 6-4, 6-3.
