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.
WATCH | Canada’s Mboko wins quarterfinal:
Victoria Mboko needed just over an hour to pick up the straight sets win over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
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.
All-American showdown in men’s tournament
In the men’s tournament in Toronto on Tuesday, Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton won in the quarterfinals, setting up the first all-American semifinal in an ATP Masters 1000 tournament in 15 years.
The second-seeded Fritz beat No. 6 seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6 (4). He hit 20 aces, including one that finished off the match.
“It was clean,” Fritz said of his performance. “I’m happy with everything.”
Shelton, the No. 4 seed, then beat No. 9 Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-3, 6-4. The 22-year-old reached the semifinals of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the first time.
The matchup Wednesday between Fritz and Shelton will be the first time since Andy Roddick beat Mardy Fish at Cincinnati in 2010 that two American met in an ATP Masters 1000 semifinal.
Fritz won their only previous meeting in 2023 at Indian Wells.
Wednesday’s other semifinal will see top-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany, the 2017 tournament winner in Montreal, take on No. 11 Karen Khachanov of Russia. The final is Thursday.
