Victoria Mboko makes headlines and gets her revenge! On Saturday, the Canadian star who was once hailed for taking a set off the 2023 US Open champion and the current French Open champion, Coco Gauff, at the Italian Open in May, is now back to take it all! She defeated the top seed in a stellar display of tennis that not only highlighted her own strengths but also Gauff’s. How did she do it?

During the post-match press conference, when asked what was going on in her mind while watching the World No. 2 on the other side of the net— for context, Coco committed 22 unforced errors, including five double faults, against the No. 85th ranked player! Surely, that gave Mboko the confidence to defeat Gauff in just 62 minutes with a 6-1, 6-4 score, right? But the Canadian wasn’t fazed by it!

She said, “Nothing really crosses my mind just because, I mean, that’s the game. People make errors; it happens. I make errors too. So, I was just really focused on myself and what I had to do. I didn’t really focus as much on what she was doing in the match because I just wanted to play as solid of a game as I possibly could, and I just wanted to do what I was supposed to do in the match and hope for the best.” Wise words from Victoria Mboko, right?

But while Mboko was humble about her performance against the World No.2, she truly did make quite an impression! The 18-year-old Canadian, who’s shot up from No. 333 to No. 85 in the rankings this year, stunned everyone at the National Bank Open by toppling top seed Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 in front of a roaring home crowd. Talk about nerves of steel—Mboko didn’t blink, saving all four breakpoints Gauff threw at her and never dropping serve once! You could feel the energy crackling as she soaked up every chant, later grinning, “I’m so happy to beat such a great champion” in French while the crowd went wild.

But there’s even more history on her side. Mboko is only the second wild card ever in the Open Era to knock out the No. 1 seed at the Canadian Open, joining Stephanie Dubois who shocked Kim Clijsters back in 2006! She’s now the fifth youngest player to beat the top seed at a WTA 1000 event since the format began in 2009—just behind legends like Gauff herself, Mirra Andreeva, Belinda Bencic, and Kai Chen Chang.

With those 20 straight wins earlier this year, four titles, and a bold three-setter versus Gauff in Rome, Mboko’s breakout is the stuff of tennis fairy tales. And get this: she’s officially the youngest Canadian quarterfinalist at the Canadian Open since 1987. Now she’s taking it all! But how does Coco feel about this loss?

Victoria Mboko’s opponent gets real about her mistakes

Gauff’s rollercoaster in Montreal took fans for a wild ride. In her opening clash against Danielle Collins, she fired 23 double faults and racked up a jaw-dropping 74 unforced errors, but somehow still clawed out a gritty 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2) victory after nearly three hours on court. The drama didn’t slow down. In her next match, Gauff fell behind by a set and a break to Veronika Kudermetova and hit another 14 double faults, yet she battled through again, showing the kind of stubborn resilience that has defined her season. But eventually, the chaos caught up.

After her early exit, Coco Gauff was honest about what may have gone wrong. “Honestly, I felt like in practice I was playing well. The last few weeks just practicing. I decided to take some time off and not play DC to actually focus on that. And maybe that wasn’t the right decision,” she confessed, reflecting on her decision to skip the Citi Open. In hindsight, those missing match reps might have created a little too much rust—something even the world No. 2 couldn’t shake off once the real matches began.

She dug deeper, sharing a sentiment only athletes at the top truly get: “Maybe it was better to get more matches under my belt, but you know it’s the first tournament in the hardcourt season, so I’m hoping that in Cincy and in New York I can find that rhythm.” Hopefully, this works out for the World No.2.

Meanwhile, Victoria Mboko is on cloud nine, rocketing into her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal right at home in Montreal. The 18-year-old is set to face Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, and with adrenaline—and a whole crowd—on her side, she’s carrying serious momentum into her next challenge. Will Mboko keep the dream run alive? Drop your thoughts in the comments!