Victoria Mboko wild ride leads to tonight’s semifinal showdown at NBO Open

MONTREAL — No longer a stranger to Canadian fans, or a lightweight on the Women’s Tennis Association Tour, Victoria Mboko’s captivating run from fearless wild-card entry to National Bank Open semifinalist continues tonight in Montreal.

The 18-year-old Toronto tennis phenom, an NBO underdog who has captured the hearts and full attention of Canadians round by round at IGA Stadium, plays the ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan on Centre Court with the winner earning a berth in tomorrow’s singles final.

Mboko is only the third wild-card player to reach the Canadian semifinals, and the first since Bianca Andreescu’s title run in 2019. She’s also the youngest woman to reach the semis since Belinda Bencic’s 2015 win in Toronto. Mboko started the year ranked outside the top 300 and, by the end of the NBO tourney, will be ranked in the top 50 according to WTA live rankings.

Her success in Montreal has come at the expense of higher-ranked players. She beat 79th-ranked Kimberly Birrell, No. 23 seed Sofia Kenin, 39th-ranked Marie Bouzkova and top-seeded Coco Gauff, a match that only lasted 62 minutes.

She bounced Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6-2 in Monday’s quarterfinals, setting the stage for tonight’s newest challenge.

Rybakina beat Mboko 6-3, 7-5 in last month’s Citi D.C. Open, but a lot has gone right for the powerful Canadian since that setback.

Tonight’s other semifinal is between the 16th-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark and Naomi Osaka of Japan.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2025.