In a stunning upset, 18-year-old Canadian wild card Victoria Mboko defeated four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to claim her first WTA 1000 title on home soil at the Canadian Open.
After dropping the first set in the championship match, Mboko once again showcased her resilience and fighting spirit. She broke Osaka’s serve in the opening game of the second set — a shift that appeared to rattle the Japanese star, despite her managing to break back twice during the frame.
Mboko carried her momentum into the deciding set, cruising to victory against a discouraged opponent to fulfil a dream that seemed destined from the moment she arrived in Montreal.
The win catapults Mboko to a career-high No. 25 in the WTA rankings, ensuring her a seeded position for the upcoming Grand Slam in New York later this month. She becomes only the second Canadian semifinalist, finalist, and champion at the Canadian Open since Bianca Andreescu’s 2019 triumph.
Ranked No. 85 entering the tournament, Mboko is now the second-lowest-ranked player ever to win a Tier I / WTA 1000 title since the format’s inception in 1990. She is also just the second player since 2009 to win her maiden title at a WTA 1000 event, and the second wild card to win the National Bank Open after Monica Seles in 1995.
Mboko’s remarkable run included four victories over Grand Slam champions — Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Naomi Osaka. Notably, Gauff and Rybakina were the tournament’s No. 1 and No. 3 seeds, respectively.
This marks the first time since Wimbledon 2023 (Ons Jabeur and Elina Svitolina) that a player has defeated four Grand Slam champions in a single tournament — but Mboko stands apart as a teenager. She is now the second-youngest player in the Open Era to achieve this feat, following Serena Williams in 1999.
Additionally, the 18-year-old becomes the first Canadian woman to face — and defeat — four former Grand Slam champions in a single WTA event in the Open Era.
— IANS
