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Mboko’s Montreal magic
Updated On: 09 August, 2025 08:38 AM IST | Montreal | AFP
Canada’s Victoria, 18, shocks four-time Grand Slam-winner Naomi Osaka to clinch maiden WTA title; giant-killing teen says this is the stuff of dreams
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Victoria Mboko with the Canadian Open winner’s trophy on Thursday. Pic/Getty Images
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko conquered four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday, capping a fairytale run at the WTA Canadian Open with a maiden Tour title. Mboko, 18 and playing in her first WTA final, denied Osaka her first tour-level title since the 2021 Australian Open, wearing down the Japanese star, 27, who has struggled to find consistency since returning from maternity leave early in 2024.
Before an ecstatic center-court crowd of 11,000, she converted eight of her nine break points, seizing her fourth win of the week over a Grand Slam winner. She ousted former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the second round and toppled reigning French Open champion Coco Gauff in the fourth before saving a match point en route to a semi-final victory over former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.
“It feels unbelievable right now. Words cannot really describe how the day went. I think it just proves that your dreams are closer than you think they are. It was kind of a surreal experience,” an ecstatic Mboko said. Displaying vintage power and precision, Osaka gave her inexperienced opponent little room to manoeuvre in the first set, gaining an early break on the way to a 3-0 lead and pocketing the set when Mboko, who had 22 unforced errors in the set, misfired on two forehands to drop her serve a second time.
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