Canadian teenage sensation Victoria MBoko made a stunning return to the ninth seed Elena Rayabkina to reach the final of the National Bank Open in Montreal, where she will take on four -time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka.
The 18-year-old MBoko rally from a set, dominating 6–1, not only to take Rybakina into a judge, but also broke a match point and broke the 2022 Wimbledon Champion twice to force a final tie-breaker.
MBoko, who harassed the first top seed Coco Goff 6–1 6-4 in the tournament and also defeated Jessica Buzas Manro in straight sets in her quarter-final clash, eventually a 1-6 7-5 7-6 (7-4) to book her place in the final.
“An incredible match, thanks to everyone for supporting me,” MBoko told the crowd in French. “It was really difficult, but anything can happen.
“Playing in front of the house crowd, of course, it has benefits. You always have as much as they can do. It really draws me in hard moments where I am probably not as positive. Blessed to support that kind.”
MBoko beaten 11 double-faults and fought through a wrist injury after stunning the ground in the second game of the third set.
The MBoko, which will go at least 34th in the world after starting the year out of the top 300, later said that his wrist was “much better”.
“She was really playing great tennis over her, but I am happy that I composed my own,” Maboko said about her stumbling. “I was patient in the right moments. I really feel happy that I was able to bounce back after being down, even a match point, I think.”
At 85th position in the world, MBoko is looking for its first WTA tour title and trying to join Faye Urban (1969) and Bianka Andresku (2019), which is the only Canadian to win its domestic program in the open era.
In the final on Thursday night, she will take on former World No. 1 Osaka, who overcame 16th seed Clara Tuson 6–2 7-6 (9-7) in the other semi-finals.
Osaka continued his best in the WTA 1000 tournament since Osaka reached the Miami final in 2022. She got away from the game for 15 months at the end of that season and was daughter Shaye in July 2023.
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