Meet Victoria Mboko, the teenager who just won’t stop winning

With a 33–3 record in 2025, a growing toolkit, and a cool head, Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko has surged from the ITF circuit into the WTA spotlight.

ROME -- During a sunny afternoon on the terrace at the Foro Italico, Victoria Mboko pauses mid-sentence. Three tables away, a burst of chatter and laughter erupts -- and, in a instinctively Canadian moment, the teenager immediately apologizes.

But while the 18-year-old from Toronto is an unfailingly polite conversationalist, there's nothing apologetic about her imposing game -- or her phenomenal rise. Mboko began the year ranked No. 333, and in January, she headed off to play her first events of the season -- a pair of ITF W35s in the Caribbean. She won them both. And then she kept on winning, and winning. Her overall record in 2025 is an eye-catching 33 wins to just three losses.

The trophies mounted up -- from Rome, Georgia to Manchester, England to Porto, Portugal. Getting them home was a struggle -- the large metal plates frequently caused consternation at airport security. Mboko had started the year in a positive physical and mental state.

"Just needed to be more confident in myself," she said.

Each match and tournament fed into a growing cycle of confidence.

Canadian teenager Mboko holds off Zucchini; sets Gauff meeting in Rome

It didn't go unnoticed. Mboko received a Miami wild card, where she notched her first Top 100 win (and first tour-level victory), over Camila Osorio. She then pushed Paula Badosa all the way in a 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (3) second-round barnburner.

This week, she made good on another wild card opportunity, defeating another pair of Top 100 players -- Cristina Bucsa and Kamilla Rakhimova -- to come through qualifying. A first-round defeat of wild card Arianna Zucchini has landed Mboko with a primetime date when she takes on No. 4 seed Coco Gauff in the Friday night session on Centrale.

Mboko's qualifying wild card was a last-minute surprise -- she was training in Biarritz, France and preparing to play in an ITF event this week when she found out -- and she's giddy with excitement simply to be at a main tour event.

"Look around!" she said. "It's such great vibes. The facilities are so beautiful. I'm in Rome!"

But while Mboko's emergence has been so sudden that she still can't quite believe it, she's not here just to be a tourist. Get to know more about her below.

Mboko, 18, upsets Osorio for first WTA win; improves to 28-1 in 2025

Mboko aims for big-hitting power plays

Mboko's first instincts on court are all about big hitting.

"I like to be very powerful and I like to take control of the point," she said. "I like things at my own pace, I don't like people rushing me."

But while some aggressive players lean into extreme versions of that style, Mboko is already learning a broader tennis philosophy.

"Not every match I'm going to be in control, so we also work a lot on my defensive game and counterpunching a lot," she said. "I'm sure there are so many girls out there who can hit way harder than me, so to be able to move well is also very important. In order to take control, you gotta build it first, run a bit and have some stamina."

Former No. 3 Nathalie Tauziat has been by her side this year

Who better to teach a wider repertoire than Nathalie Tauziat, the serve-and-volleying former No. 3 who excelled on grass? Mboko first crossed paths with the Frenchwoman as a junior, when Tauziat worked with Tennis Canada. But it wasn't until this year that the 1998 Wimbledon finalist was specifically assigned to travel with her.

"I'm very used to her and she's very used to me," Mboko said. "I feel very relaxed and calm with her."

Tauziat has also been stretching Mboko tactically.

"She's pushing me more to use all aspects of my game, because that's how she used to play," Mboko said. "I feel like she has been using her expertise very well -- she knows the game and she knows what I'm able to produce. Sometimes we work on my slices. She wants me to come more to the net and be more all-around, so that if any situation comes up in the match, I'm there and I'm prepared for it."

Tauziat will also be a handy figure to have around when Mboko makes her Grand Slam qualifying debut at Roland Garros in just over two weeks' time. She reached the quarterfinals of her home major in 1991, and she'll be back on court this year for the Legends event.

"She's French, she knows the ambience," Mboko said.

Mboko was first inspired by her three older siblings ...

Mboko is the youngest of four tennis-playing siblings. Her sister, Gracia, and oldest brother Kevin both competed at college level. Her other brother, David, had to stop due to eye problems. Given the sport's prominence in her family, it's not surprising that she first picked up a racquet at only 3 years old.

"I just remember watching them from the sidelines and not wanting to be left out," Mboko said.

Though she's now gone the furthest in the game of the four -- these days, Mboko's siblings are among her most valued supporters -- there's still a family pecking order that they haven't let her rectify.

"I've actually never beaten any of them," she said. "I never like to lose a lot. I played my sister once in a tournament and I lost 0 and 0. I was absolutely devastated. They still hold that over me to this day!"

Mboko's parents, Cyprien Mboko and Godee Kitadi, emigrated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1999 because of political turmoil, but they've instilled a love of their heritage in their children. Mboko has yet to visit the DRC, but all her grandparents still live there and it's high on her bucket list. For the moment, her favorite means of appreciating the Congolese culture is via her mother's cooking -- particularly one dessert treat.

"Beignets are these little balls made out of dough -- it's a French translation of 'doughnut' -- and I could eat so many of them," Mboko said. "For an athlete, they're not great to eat. But when I come home she always makes a bunch of them, because she never gets to see me."

... but professional inspirations include Serena Williams and Bianca Andreescu

The Rogers Cup in Toronto was Mboko's home tournament growing up, and all of her first tennis memories involve it in some way.

"I remember going there as a kid and watching all the great players playing," Mboko said. "We were watching a lot of Serena and Venus, and that's where I took a lot of inspiration, because Serena was literally the greatest of all time. I used to see how the pros are and I used to be in so much awe of them. And now I'm seeing them like right beside me. It's crazy how life works, it's such a great feeling."

One particular pro isn't just competing alongside her, but offering her advice. Mboko calls 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, the first Canadian woman to win a major, an "inspiration" -- and an effusive Andreescu, who won her first-round match in Rome on the same day, repaid the kind words.

"I'm always rooting for Vicky," Andreescu said. "I messaged her and said, 'Hey, if you want to talk, let me know.' At the end of the day, we're the only ones who can relate to each other, so if we can help each other that's the main thing. But she has a very strong game style, she's very aggressive and she can play defense. She's just starting out, so she's really hungry. It's going to be a great match [against Gauff]."

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