Taking a break to rest a sore right wrist will give Canadian tennis star Victoria Mboko a chance to reflect on an unforgettable fortnight in Montreal.
Things are about to change in a significant way for the National Bank Open champion. She wowed the sellout crowd at IGA Stadium on Thursday night with a stunning victory over four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan.
On Friday, Mboko rocketed 61 spots to a career-best No. 24 in the world rankings after claiming her first WTA Tour Masters 1000 title. Her days of grinding through qualifiers or relying on wild-card entries are over.
At 18, she’s also a millionaire after claiming a winner’s cheque of over US$752,000 – or about $1.03 million Canadian.
Mboko is skipping the ongoing tournament in Cincinnati and will instead look ahead to the upcoming U.S. Open. She will be a seeded player at the final Grand Slam of the season.
Not bad for someone who was ranked 351st this time last year and playing W50 events on the lower-level ITF tour.
“I feel like the ingredients are definitely there in terms of a whole package,” said Robert Bettauer, a former director of tennis development with Tennis Canada. “Athleticism, technical expertise, power, court intelligence, and the big one is emotional: mental control and management.”
Mboko played like a veteran as she took out some of the biggest names on the circuit. She shone in the big moments and elevated her game when required.
Four former Grand Slam champions – Osaka, Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina – all fell to the Toronto player, who grew up in nearby Burlington, Ont.
Mboko has the power game to hang with the sport’s best and doesn’t seem to get tired on court. Her strong retrieval skills and aggressiveness can leave opponents flustered.
“Most players use their athletic ability just to play defence (or) just to play offence,” said Sportsnet tennis broadcaster Jesse Levine. “She uses it two ways, so it’s impressive.”
For someone so young, Mboko has impressed by playing without fear and appearing comfortable when the pressure is high.
“Shehas consistently won at every level of tennis that she’s played,” said Tennis Canada CEO Gavin Ziv. “Going from the smaller circuits at the ITF pro circuit to the challengers, now to the (WTA) Tour level.
“So for people close to tennis, I don’t think it’s a shock that we’re seeing her doing so well.”
Mboko also showed her mettle by pulling out a semifinal win over Rybakina despite a heavily taped wrist after a fall on court. The wrist was swollen for the final, but she played through the discomfort for her first career title on the top-flight tour.
It can be easy to forget that Mboko is still a teenager.
Her on-court play is matched by her off-court professionalism. She displayed a maturity beyond her years in Montreal by hitting all the right notes in her post-victory speech and at media availabilities.
“She seems like a very grounded, sensible individual, and she’s got all the tools,” said Bettauer, a longtime player, broadcaster and CEO of the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence.
Mboko is now the highest-ranked Canadian on tour, moving two spots ahead of Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que. She also joined fifth-ranked Russian Mirra Andreeva — who’s also 18 — as the only under-20 players in the top 25.
Mboko said she likes to be “really relaxed and calm,” which will serve her well in the pressure-cooker setting of Flushing Meadows starting Aug. 24.
“I think going forward, I just want to keep the same routines that I’m usually used to,” she said. “I don’t want to put so much pressure on myself just because of something that happened this week, because life goes on.
“There’s always another tournament, whether (I) win or lose. I’m just happy to live in the moment. Once it’s passed, it’s passed.”
AloJapan.com