Canadian teen Victoria Mboko advances to NBO semifinals in Montreal

Victoria Mboko of Canada waves to the crowd after defeating Coco Gauff of the United States in the round of 16 of the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Montreal, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (Photo: Christian Moshi/Canadian Press)

MONTREAL — Victoria Mboko is still shining.

Two days after defeating top seed Coco Gauff, the Canadian teen star advanced to the semifinals of the National Bank Open on Monday night with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Jessica Bozas Maneiro of Spain.

Mboko had beaten Gauff in straight sets on Saturday in just 62 minutes.

She was no slouch on Monday night, although she struggled to win.

Mbuku won the first set, which was full of errors and the game was constantly going back and forth between the two sides, but she lost serve early in the second. However, she broke in the fourth and sixth games to take a 4-2 lead.

The 18-year-old from Toronto broke again after holding serve, and on the final point, Bozas Maneiro’s backhand went off the court, sending the crowd into a frenzy. The match lasted just 77 minutes.

Mbuku is the first Canadian to reach the semifinals of a WTA 1000 tournament since Bianca Andreescu won in 2019. She is also the youngest woman to reach the semifinals of a WTA 1000 tournament since Belinda Bencic won in Toronto in 2015.

Ranked 51st in the world, Bozas Maneiro was reaching the quarterfinals for the first time in a 1000 tournament.

In a stellar year and impressive improvement, Mboko has climbed from outside the top 300 to No. 85. According to the WTA Live Rankings, she is expected to rise to at least No. 55.

Mboko, the last remaining Canadian singles player, has been drawing attention with her powerful hitting in her first appearance in the main draw of the National Bank Open.

She will face Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the semifinals. Rybakina, the ninth seed, reached the semifinals after Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine was forced to withdraw with a hand injury. Kostyuk was trailing 6-1, 2-1 when she retired.

After two injury-plagued years, Mboko — who had shown her talent as a junior — started the season with 22 straight wins and won five ITF Tour titles.

Then she made her first Grand Slam main draw, reaching the third round at Roland Garros. She also stunned 25th-seeded Magdalena Farrokh at Wimbledon.

And the surprises continue.

In Montreal, Mbuku has won against Kimberly Birrell (79th), Sofia Kenin (23rd), Marie Bozkova (39th) and Coco Gauff (world number two).

With the new win, her record against higher-ranked players is 25-8, and in all tournaments this year, she has a record of 51-9.

The enthusiastic crowd gave Mbuku a standing ovation as she entered the tunnel.

In the first set, neither player was fully focused, and long or off-court shots ruined chances to break serve.

In the fifth game, tied at 2-2, Mboko found himself in a critical situation (40-15 behind), but managed to win the game with five service wins, starting with shots at 180 km/h.

He then led 40-0 and had three break points, but Bozas Maniero saved the game with consecutive errors, including several incomplete backhands.

Leading 4-3, Mboko again had three break points at 40-0, and this time, Bozas Maniero hit the ball into the net.

He was then broken, as he made several unforced errors and a double fault.

But Mboko closed the set with his second break, when Bozas Maniero's forehand went wide.

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