Mboko into singles final, Dabrowski advances to doubles final at Strasbourg

STRASBOURG — Canadian teen tennis star Victoria Mboko will play for her third WTA Tour title after defeating Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2 in Friday’s semifinals at the Strasbourg International.

Mboko, the top seed in Strasbourg, clinched the win at the WTA 500 clay-court event with a third set in which she broke Cristian twice on three chances and saved both break points she faced.

“It was a battle,” Mboko said. “(Cristian) made it really physical.

“She really pushed me to my limits today, and I feel like my finish got better today.”

The dominant final set came after the 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., faced struggles early on.

Mboko came back from being down a break in the first set before convincingly taking the tiebreaker. Cristian took another early break in the second set, and this time she made it stand to force a decisive third set.

Mboko said she felt some pain in her arm when she got on the court, and she took a medical timeout in the second set.

“I really hate retiring from matches,” she said. “Calling the physio, I was hoping they were going to put a cream on or do something really fast, but unfortunately, we had to go off the court.

“I wouldn’t like it if my opponent did that, so I felt really bad, but I had to do it to try to continue the match.”

Mboko will face Emma Navarro of the United States in Saturday’s final before opening her second French Open with a first-round match against Czechia’s Nikola Bartunkova.

Earlier, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Brazilian partner Luisa Stefani advanced to the doubles final with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova and Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan.

Dabrowski and Stefani, the tournament’s top seeds, won 70.6 per cent of first-serve points, compared to 52.5 for their opponents, and converted five breaks while conceding three.

Stefani and Dabrowski will face Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway and Quinn Gleason of the United States in Saturday’s final as they seek their second title of the season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2026.