Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko continued her stunning run at the National Bank Open, defeating Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6-2 on Monday night to advance to her first career WTA Tour semifinal.
Just two days after a dominant 62-minute victory over world No. 2 and top seed Coco Gauff, the 18-year-old from Toronto showed no signs of slowing down. After clinching a competitive, error-prone first set, Mboko recovered from an early break in the second. She broke back in the fourth and sixth games to establish a commanding 4-2 lead and sealed the win.
Mboko is the first Canadian to reach the semifinals of the WTA 1000 event since Bianca Andreescu’s title run in 2019. She is also the youngest woman to make the semifinals since Belinda Bencic won the tournament in 2015.
Her opponent in the next round will be No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Rybakina advanced after Marta Kostyuk retired from their quarterfinal match with an apparent arm injury while trailing 6-1, 2-1. Kostyuk, the 24th seed, received treatment on her forearm before tearfully exiting the court after 54 minutes of play.
The victory marks another high point in a breakthrough year for Mboko, who has surged from outside the world’s top 300 to a career-high No. 85. Her performance in Montreal is projected to lift her ranking to at least No. 55.
After two years hampered by injuries, the former junior standout began her season with a 22-match winning streak, capturing five titles on the lower-tier ITF Tour. She then qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw at the French Open, reaching the third round, and followed that with an upset over 25th-seeded Magdalena Frech in the first round at Wimbledon.
In Montreal, Mboko has defeated Kimberly Birrell, No. 23 seed Sofia Kenin, Marie Bouzkova, and Gauff. Her latest win improves her impressive record this season to 51-9 overall and 25-8 against higher-ranked opponents.
In other quarterfinal action, No. 6 seed Madison Keys, the highest-seeded player remaining, will face No. 16 Clara Tauson, while former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka is set to play No. 10 seed Elina Svitolina.
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