Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko won the National Bank Open in Montreal on Thursday, defeating former world number one Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to claim her first WTA Tour title. The 18-year-old wildcard, ranked 85th, became the youngest player to beat four Grand Slam champions at a single WTA event since Serena Williams in 1999.
Mboko’s run included victories over four-time major champion Osaka, reigning French Open winner Coco Gauff, 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, and 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin. Cheers from the Montreal crowd interrupted the men’s final 330 miles away in Toronto, prompting the chair umpire to explain the commotion.
Starting the year outside the top 300, Mboko won her first 20 matches of 2025 in straight sets, claiming five ITF titles. “I think my biggest takeaway is the sky’s the limit,” she told the Guardian. “I never would have thought I would win a WTA 1000 so soon.”
Mboko’s athleticism and positive mindset impressed top seed Gauff, who lost 6-1, 6-4 in the round of 16. “She’s very athletic,” said Gauff. “She’s a great ball striker, and she seems pretty positive out there.”
Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Mbokos’s parents fled the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1999 and later settled in Toronto. Her siblings played tennis at collegiate level. As a child, she chased autographs at the same tournament; ten years later, she hoisted the trophy. Mboko will climb into the world’s top 25 after the victory.
