The 18-year-old Canadian tennis player, Victoria Mboko, is having a wonderful time this season. At the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, she lost in the final qualifying round. But then she received a lucky loser slot. While sharing her thoughts about that particular moment, Mboko said, “I felt very rushed at the moment, but because I was so excited and so happy, I wanted to switch into tournament mode.” Following that, she won her first round match against Magdalena Frech in straight sets. Although her journey at Wimbledon came to an end at the hands of America’s Hailey Baptiste in the next round, Mboko has started well on hard courts as well!

After reaching the R16 of the 2025 Citi Open, Victoria Mboko has gotten off to an impressive start at the Canadian Open as well. She defeated Australia’s Kimberly Birrell in the first round by 7-5,6-3 and with that win, she became the third Canadian to win a women’s singles main draw match at the Canadian Open before turning 19 in the last 40 years (since 1986) after Helen Kelesi and Eugenie Bouchard. Now, Mboko takes down the 2020 Australian Open champion, Sofia Kenin, by 6-2,6-3 in the second round (R64).

This is her fifth Top 50 win, and she’ll now be playing her first WTA 1000 R3. Not only that, Victoria Mboko has now also become the youngest Canadian (in the Open Era) to defeat a Grand Slam champion in the women’s singles at the Canadian Open, surpassing Bianca Andreescu. What did she say after beating Kenin in front of her home crowd in her first Montreal main draw appearance? In her post-match interview, she was literally left speechless.

Victoria Mboko said, “Oh my god. Thank you, everyone who came to support me.. It was a really tough battle, playing late at night is a new experience for me. I’m so happy to get the win & to celebrate it with everyone. I don’t really know what to say.“

Talking more of this youngster, Victoria Mboko was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 26, 2006. However, her story had its beginnings in the Democratic Republic of Congo, from where her parents, Cyprien Mboko and Godee Kitadi, had emigrated due to political turmoil. Victoria is the youngest of the four siblings, all of whom play tennis; her sister Gracia and brother Kevin played at the collegiate level. Taking inspiration from her older siblings, she began playing tennis at the age of three or four. Her family had played a very key role in her rise.

She had to overcome a lot of hurdles to reach here, but playing in front of home fans is a completely different feeling. What does she have to say about that, though?

In a previous interview, while sharing her thoughts on getting the chance to play on home soil, she said, “A couple of months ago, I would have never thought that I would be here. For me to play at this level when I was always going to this tournament really young is just really exciting.” Her fondest memories from this tournament include watching her “No. 1 idol,” Serena Williams, winning titles here.

Talking about Williams in a previous interview, she said that she really loved her game, and she always wanted to kind of resemble her game like Serena Williams. But what are Victoria Mboko’s tennis goals, though?

Victoria Mboko sheds light on her tennis goals

Well, Victoria Mboko is currently ranked 85th in the world, and her overall win-loss record is currently 46-9. She has been in good form this season. This year, Mboko reached the finals of the WTA 250K Parma, IT, and then made it to the third round of the French Open before trying her luck at Wimbledon. But talking about her tennis goals, well, she has already made it pretty clear that she isn’t the type to set many goals for herself. Instead, she claims, “I like to really take things slowly, and I like to let things happen the way they do.”

She’s happy with her progress, and while speaking more on this, she added, “I just [want] everything around me to be a good environment and obviously being healthy is really important for me, so I think that those are my goals.” Talking about her achievements this season, other than winning some spectacular battles, she had earned praise from the world number 2, Coco Gauff, during the 2025 Italian Open.

In their R64 clash, Victoria Mboko stunned everyone by securing the first set against Gauff. However, the American pulled it back in the next two to win the match by 3-6,6-2,6-1. Talking about Mboko’s game, Coco Gauff had then said, “She’s obviously a big hitter, can play well, moves pretty well, has a nice backhand, same on the forehand.”

What was the reaction to seeing the comparison drawn between them? “I don’t want to say she plays like me ’cause she obviously doesn’t. We’re like closer in age. I would say on the movement side athletically, she’s one of the best athletes on tour,” said Gauff. Hearing this, Victoria Mboko said it’s a really great compliment, but does she want to face Coco Gauff yet again?

Victoria Mboko hopes to play against Coco Gauff at the Canadian Open. After winning her first round match, Mboko admitted, “Yeah, I mean it’d be really fun to play Coco again. The last time I played her was in Rome, and it was a very difficult match for me. But, you know, she’s an amazing player and to play great players like her, it’s always a great opportunity, it’s always a lot of fun for me.” Do you want to see her take on Gauff in this tournament, though? Share your thoughts about this in the comment box.