Coco Gauff might be the French Open queen in 2025 but her recent form hasn’t matched her reputation. And when you are facing a challenge to shine on the court, it becomes an uphill task to face another rising, young prodigy. Seems like the World No.2 will have to put her best foot forward when she faces an 18-year-old WTA sensation on the tour. Following her shocking defeat in Wimbledon last month, Gauff will try not to get outplayed early in yet another campaign. But guess what? Despite registering two straight wins in Montreal this week, the American believes she may not have it easy against her upcoming opponent. But who is she?

On Thursday night, Gauff survived another tough challenge at the Canadian Open. After besting compatriot Danielle Collins in the first round three-set thriller, she had to put in extra work again. Against Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova, she lost the first set and appeared to be bound for a loss. But then, the World No.2 fought back to eventually beat her rival in a tense battle. Gauff entered the R16 with a score line of 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

During the press conference, she was asked to react to the possibility of facing Canada’s Victoria Mboko. At that moment, Mboko’s match against Marie Bouzkova was yet to finish. Hence, it wasn’t clear who would eventually face Gauff in the fourth round. Expressing her honest feelings on the teenager Mboko, she said, “Yeah she’s, I mean, a great player. I mean we played on clay so it might be a little, will be a different match. And obviously she’s gotten more experience just being on tour, playing high-level players.”

The 21-year-old underlined that “it’s gonna be, if I were to play her, it would be a tough match and yeah she’s definitely playing like one of the top players in the world right now. And her ranking will definitely match that soon. So yeah, it will be a tough match.”

For the uninitiated, Coco Gauff has already met Mboko once. During the Italian Open earlier this season, in R64, she had to put extra effort in order to beat the teenager. The latter snatched the first set, leaving the American stunned. However, Gauff then somehow managed to secure the win with a score line of 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Ahead of their rematch, the 18-year-old has now expressed honest feelings on facing the World No.2.

Victoria Mboko unveils bold take on Coco Gauff ahead of the Canadian Open face-off

Victoria Mboko has been going through a sensational form this week. After besting America’s Sofia Kenin in the R64, she ousted Czechia’s Marie Bouzkova on Thursday. Despite trailing in the first set, the 18-year-old made an amazing return. She secured her fourth round ticket in Montreal with a final score line of 1-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Reacting to her result, Mboko said, “I feel like I had a really shaky start and I wanted to go to the bathroom to reset and take my time. I wanted to come into the next set with a different mentality, and I mean, it helped a little bit.” But what about the upcoming challenge against Gauff?

Speaking during the press conference, Mboko didn’t mince her words on the ‘hard fight‘. “I mean, I’m really excited for it,” she said without hesitation while being confident. Looking forward to facing Gauff yet again, she added, “She’s the number one seed of this tournament and, I’ve played her before and I know what I’m going to expect. I’m going to really expect a hard fight. So, I mean it’s always great to play such incredible athletes and incredible players like her and I think it’s just going to be a really fun experience again.”

Mboko may try to capitalize on Gauff’s ongoing weakness: inaccurate serves leading to double faults. In this tournament alone, the American has committed 37 double faults in just two matches. Do you think the Canadian teenager will exploit this aspect and take her sweet revenge on Gauff to level the H2H tally 1-1? Let us know in the comments below.