“Queen Victoria” Mboko crowned in Canada

Just a few months on, Mboko scooped the WTA 1000 title on home soil in Montreal, the first tour-level title of her burgeoning career and one achieved by beating four Grand Slam champions along the way.

Mboko’s victims included Sofia Kenin, No.1 seed Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina – from match point down in the semifinals – and Naomi Osaka in a compelling final, also from a set down.

She has risen to 24th in the WTA rankings, ensuring she will be seeded at the US Open.

"Queen Victoria! She's been absolutely killing it,” former world No.20 Daria Saville said on this week’s episode of The Tennis, released a day before the Montreal final.

“It all started with her going and grinding [on the ITF circuit] in January. She won four tournaments back-to-back, then she won another in March, and that's when she started getting into the Masters 1000s.

“It's incredible that now she's in the final [in Canada].”

Ranked as low as 337th in mid January, Mboko has built a win-loss record of 53-9 across all tournament levels in 2025, showing incredible resilience and robustness along her journey.

Saville observed how well she rebounded from a heartbreaking defeat in the final round of Wimbledon qualifying – she held five match points against Priscilla Hon before losing – to soar just a month later in Canada.

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