Victoria Mboko reacts following her win over Naomi Osaka of Japan during finals tennis action at the National Bank Open in Montreal on Thursday.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Victoria Mboko capped off her fairytale story at the National Bank Open Thursday night by hoisting the champion’s trophy.
In an unforgettable night for Canadian tennis, the country’s teen sensation beat four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the singles final to earn the first WTA title of her young career.
Throughout the 12-day event in Montreal, the 18-year-old wildcard compiled one mesmerizing win after another and vaulted up the rankings. Mboko blossomed from little known wildcard to tournament headliner and a budding household name across Canada. Her never-say-quit matches became appointment television.
“When I had that winning moment and seeing so many people standing up and cheering for me, it was kind of a surreal experience,” said Mboko. “I would have never thought something like this would have come so suddenly.”
Victoria Mboko hoists the trophy following her win over Naomi Osaka during finals tennis action at the National Bank Open in Montreal, Thursday,Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
The 18-year-old raised in Burlington, Ont., becomes the second-youngest player in the Open Era to defeat four Grand Slam champions in a single tournament, with her wins in Montreal over Osaka, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff and Sofia Kenin. The only player to accomplish that at a younger age was 17-year-old Serena Williams at the 1999 US Open.
After a life-changing run, Mboko takes home US$752,275 as the NB Open champ – nearly double what she’s made in prize money in her whole career so far. She arrived in Montreal ranked No. 85 and will skyrocket into the top 25. It means the young Canadian will be seeded at the U.S. Open. She confirmed Thursday that she will not play the Cincinnati Open first.
She couldn’t think of anything she’d like to buy with the earnings, saying she’d treat herself instead to extra time with her family and friends. She also said there’s no reason to feel more pressure now that she’s won a WTA tournament.
“I surround myself with people who have known me for so long, and I just like to keep a small circle,” said Mboko. “I don’t want to put so much pressure on myself just because of something that happened this week, because life goes on.”
Victoria Mboko beat four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka at the National Bank Open in Montreal.
The Canadian Press
Mboko becomes the first Canadian winner of the tournament since Bianca Andreescu won it in 2019 and ended the 50-year gap without a Canadian champ that followed Faye Urban’s victory in 1969.
Just as it was for many of Mboko’s matches in Montreal, IGA Stadium was sold out for Thursday’s final, in overwhelming support for the Canadian.
It was the first-ever meeting between Mboko and Osaka, and a final matchup no one would have predicted when the tournament began. Two unseeded players had not met in the Canadian Open final since 1979.
Mboko was just the third wildcard in the Open Era to reach the final at this event, joining two former World No. 1 players — Monica Seles (1995) and Simona Halep (2015).
The 27-year-old Osaka, ranked No. 49, a former World No. 1 and a four-time Grand Slam champion who left tennis on a maternity leave in 2023, seems to be having a resurgence. This was her first WTA 1000-level final since 2022. She was looking for her first title since the 2021 Australian Open.
Mboko emerged Thursday with her wrist heavily taped after injuring it Wednesday in her semi-final match against Elena Rybakina. The wrist was stiff and swollen when she woke up the day of the final, so she went to the hospital for an MRI and x-ray. She was relieved to learn nothing serious was wrong.
The Canadian suffered a couple of double faults in her first service game in the final, and Osaka got the early break.
“[There were] some moments where it was aggravating me a lot,” she said of the wrist. “But I feel like it was the final. I just kept saying to myself, ‘you have one more to go’.”
Naomi Osaka of Japan looks on following her loss against Victoria Mboko on Thursday.Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
Mboko showed her fight – like saving three break points to hold serve. But ultimately, the Japanese player broke her again and took the first set easily.
It didn’t feel like doom though, since Mboko had lost the opening set against Rybakina the night before, and charged back to win the match. In Montreal, she’d become masterful at flipping the script. Predictably, the Canadian marched out and broke Osaka right away to open the second set and wake up the crowd.
There were seven breaks of service in a wildly dramatic second set. The younger, less experienced Mboko was not playing it safe, but aggressively delivering gutsy winners down the line, and bombing serves. The crowd’s unapologetic adoration for the Canadian was ramping up as she wrestled back control. Osaka, the veteran of four Grand slams on hardcourts looked sullen and frustrated, at one point covering her ears. The impressively calm teen served for the set and won it, forcing a third.
Osaka disappeared for a fast restroom break, then jogged back onto the court.
Victoria Mboko plays a backhand against Naomi Osaka during the Women's Singles Final match on Thursday.Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
There were three straight breaks to open the deciding set. Then the Canadian saved consecutive break points in a lengthy game to hold serve and go up 3-1, punctuated by a nice little drop shot.
The stoic youngster rollicked through the final set before the joy finally spilled out of her after the final point, as she fell to the court in celebration.
Osaka said a few thanks in her brief runners-up speech on the court and did not speak to media afterward.
Mboko thanked Osaka on-court and told the crowd “I’ve always looked up to her when I was really little, so it’s great to play with an amazing player like you.”
Then Mboko turned her thanks to her family, her coaches, and the raucous crowd who helped fuel her all tournament long.
“You guys were incredible, I couldn’t be more grateful,” she said. “Montreal, je vous aime.”