Mboko battles into Adelaide quarterfinals with marathon win over Kalinskaya

ADELAIDE — Canada’s Victoria Mboko advanced to the quarterfinals of the Adelaide International tennis tournament with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (6) victory over Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old from Toronto, seeded eighth at the WTA 500 event, overcame two match points before taking the third-set tiebreaker in a match that lasted two hours 22 minutes.

Mboko meet the winner of Wednesday’s match between No. 2 seed and reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys and qualifier Tereza Valentova.

The world No. 17 has won three of her four matches so far this year, including a comeback victory over former top-10 player Beatriz Haddad Maia in the first round in Adelaide. All four matches have gone three sets.

Mboko is set to make her debut at the Australian Open later this month after a breakout 2025 season on the WTA Tour.

She was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year after winning the National Bank Open in Montreal and raising her ranking from No. 333 at the start of the season to No. 18 at the end.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2026.