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MONTREAL – When the Canadian player makes a big splash at their home tournament, the village gets bigger.
And so when 18-year-old Victoria Mboko practiced on Sunday, a day after her upset win over world No. 2 Coco Gauff and ahead of her quarterfinal match at the Omnium Banque Nationale against unseeded Jessica Bouzas Maneiro Monday night, the court was crowded.
There was main coach Nathalie Tauziat. Tennis Canada head of women’s tennis Noelle Van Lottum. Tennis Canada physical trainer Virginie Tremblay. Her father Cyprien. Her agent Marijn Bal. And looking down from the next court over were Tennis Canada high performance chief Guillaume Marx and national trainer Nicolas Perrotte.
Here’s what it looked like. It’s probably only the start. When you hit big, everyone wants in.
It’s been a steep and rapid rise to the top for Mboko, who turns 19 in three weeks and who, at the start of the season, was ranked No. 333.
She’s gone 50-9 so far – and counting. And if she beats Bouzas Maneiro Monday night, she’ll jump into the top 50.
Her run in Montreal has been a huge help for a tournament looking to sell an additional 80-85,000 tickets with the new expanded draw this year.
And while the level of her tennis is a surprise to the more casual fans, you’ve already seen it if you’ve paid attention to her efforts the last few months – much of it chronicled here on Open Court.
(For all of Open Court’s videos and photo galleries of Mboko, click here).
DC wild card, and good win
Just a couple of weeks ago, after a late wild card got Mboko into the main draw at the Mubadala Citi DC Open instead of having to go through qualifying, she posted a quality opening win over Russia’s Anastasia Potapova.
Potapova, currently at No. 44 after a year in which she’s struggled with injuries, has been as high as No. 21 and is a talented opponent. Mboko beat her 6-2, 6-4 before losing in two close sets to Elena Rybakina in the second round.
Before the start of the tournament, she talked to Open Court and TVA Sports about how things have changed lately – just a little.
You never know when it’s going to hit
Over that weekend, Mboko practiced with American Clervie (Magloire) Ngounoue, who is just a month older and turned 19 two weeks ago.
The two have plenty in common. Both are daughters of immigrants from French-speaking African countries (in Ngounoue’s case, from Cameroon) who came to the U.S.
Both were top juniors – Ngounoue, even more so than Mboko. She is a former No. 1 who won the 2023 junior girls’ singles title at Wimbledon without dropping a single set. She also won the 2023 Roland Garros juniors girls’ doubles title, and the 2022 Australian Open girls’ title (beating Mboko and Kayla Cross in the final). They never played each other in singles on the junior circuit.
But when they both arrived in the French-speaking Caribbean islands to start the 2025 season, they saw plenty of each other.
Mboko and Cadence Brace beat Ngounoue and partner Olivia Lincer in the final of the first one in Le Lamentin, Martinique. And then Ngounoue and Mboko teamed up the next week in Petit-Bourg, Martinique and won the title there.
They also ended up playing each other in the singles finals of both tournaments. Both won by Mboko to start her rocket-like rise.
Mboko arrived in Martinique ranked No. 333; Ngounoue was ranked higher, at No. 280.
Ngounoue has already played the US Open three times. She has trained with the Mouratoglou academy for years. And in D.C., she was guided by longtime Sloane Stephens coach Kamau Murray. Both young women are undeniably talented.
But next Monday, Mboko is likely to be in the top 50; Ngounoue, who jumped into the top 200 for the first time a few weeks ago, will sit at about No. 212.
Every path is so different. And everyone has their time.
So you just never know.
But this is Mboko’s time.
She’ll be the favorite Monday night against Bouzas Maneiro – and that’s a new experience for the new player who’s not been expected to win almost all of her matches so far at the top level.
There’s also the matter of backing up a big win, such as the one over Gauff on Saturday.
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