Victoria Mboko holds her trophy at IGA Stadium after she won against Naomi Osaka in the National Bank Open final on Thursday.David Kirouac/Reuters
Aviva Rubin is a Toronto-based writer of memoir, essays, social commentary and fiction, including her debut novel White.
On Thursday night, for the second night in a row, I joined my parents – Murray, 94, and Roda, 86 – in clapping, yelling and hooting along with the TV broadcast of the unflappable 18-year-old Victoria Mboko soaring to victory at the National Bank Open (formerly the Canadian Open) final in Montreal. We were all beyond excited for the pride of Burlington, Ont., and for her parents and siblings, who were there in the stands cheering her on.
Many Canadians certainly felt the same way. But for my father, Victoria’s win in particular was a dream come true.
Victoria Mboko beat four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka at the National Bank Open in Montreal.
The Canadian Press
My dad has been a lifelong tennis player and a huge champion of Canadian youth in the sport. He understood that supporting them was the only way to get Canadians on the grand slam map, where we barely featured; Bianca Andreescu’s 2019 win at the U.S. Open remains our country’s only singles tournament win at that level.
One experience in the early 1980s inspired him to put his money where his mouth was. He was examining the board at the Canadian Open where the list of match-ups had been posted when he overheard a conversation between two American players.
“Hey,” one of them said, “Looks like you got a bye” – that is, where a player gets to skip a round without having to play an opponent.
“No, I’m playing a Canadian,” the second guy responded.
“Same thing,” the first one said. “When you play a Canadian, that’s like getting a bye.”
Murray never forgot that remark – and it lit a lifelong fire in him to change that thinking.
In 2013, he donated $20,000 a year over six years to start an under–10 tournament called The Champions through the Ontario Tennis Association (OTA). The winners of the boys’ and girls’ tournaments got $6,000 each; the runners-up got $4,000. The prize money went toward coaching.
One of the winners of that championship in 2014: A seven-year-old named Victoria Mboko.
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In 2015, Murray got a note from Pierre Lamarche, a former Canadian tennis player, coach and consultant to Tennis Canada, thanking him for being “part of Vicky’s team.” He promised to keep my dad posted.
And in 2022, Victoria herself sent my father an email:
“Dear Mr. Murray,
Hope you’re well.
My name is Victoria Mboko and I was born on Aug. 26, 2006.
I grew up playing tennis from the age of 4. All of my siblings played tennis so naturally I gravitated toward tennis and I soon discovered that it was one of the biggest joys for me to play and compete. Since my family and I live close to Toronto, Burlington, I played the tournaments Tennis Ontario put together from a young age on.
I started competing quite young and won an Under-10 tournament as one of my first ones I was allowed to play in 2014, much younger than the other girls.
Mboko hits a return to Naomi Osaka during finals at the National Bank Open.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
This specific tournament was financed by yourself and your wife. Your contribution to the tennis fund for Tennis Ontario didn’t only allow me to compete in the tournament but also opened the door for myself to work with a private coach to further develop my tennis.
I’m currently the No. 1 Junior in Canada, the No. 8 Junior player in the world and am ranked on the professional WTA Tour at No. 493 in the world and recently won my first pro event in Saskatoon, Canada.
My main focus is now to compete primarily in the professional pro tournaments to get my pro ranking up and one day become world No. 1 and win Grand Slams.
Hope for you to get to see me compete in person soon.
Have a good weekend.
Victoria Mboko"
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Murray now uses a walker and doesn’t get out much, so he didn’t get to see Victoria – who’s now ranked 24th in the world – in person in Montreal. But that might not be a bad thing, if you like watching tennis in respectful silence.
Roda tells a story about attending a Tevlin Women’s Challenger match at a small intimate venue in Toronto with Murray and my brother. Let me tell you: it’s one thing to hear him cheer and yell advice at the TV, and another thing altogether when it happens in-person. NO!!!!!! is one of his favourites, and Give me an ace! is among his more encouraging go-tos. And so, at the lightly attended match, everyone was looking over at the raucous older man, with his wife sitting quietly mortified beside him. The tournament was serving bagels and coffee to the spectators, and so when my brother returned from getting something to eat, he brought back two paper lunch bags into which he had poked eye holes, and quietly handed one to our mom. That’s how embarrassing it can be to watch live tennis with Murray.
But you do get opinions and full-throated support. In 2022, he was even honoured for them at an OTA gala dinner with a lifetime achievement award, and for all his work lifting up young tennis players in Canada.
Victoria Mboko poses with her Canadian Open trophy with a Canadian flag draped over the umpire's chair.Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
As I watched my father watching Victoria, I thought: what a rare and beautiful thing for someone to get to witness a lifetime of contributions bloom on the country’s biggest tennis stage. As Murray yelled “Give me an ace!” at the TV, it was a gift to see the player who is now the country’s best-ranked woman deliver, on behalf of one of the loudest members of “Vicky’s team.”
Then, on Friday, my mom called OTA to send a message of congratulations to Victoria. Not long after, Victoria called my parents at home – just one day after her huge win.
“That made every cent I put into youth tennis worth it,” my dad told me.
Clearly, Victoria Mboko is more than just a gift to tennis. She is a gift to Canada.