MONTREAL — After Victoria Mboko practised, signed autographs and took selfies with some early-arriving fans ahead of Tuesday’s quarterfinal session, four security guards circled around the rising Canadian star for the walk back to the locker room.
Before playing her first match at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers on July 27, Mboko certainly was a story in Canadian tennis circles — but by no means the headliner at this deep WTA Tour 1000 event.
Five wins later, it is Mboko first and everyone else way back and fighting for second when it comes to interest here. The 18-year-old has captured the imagination of this tennis-loving crowd, and many sports fans across the country with her improbable run to Wednesday’s semifinals against No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
“It was funny because the first time we practised, there were not a lot of people. And just every day, it kept increasing,” said graduating University of North Dakota tennis player and Laval, Que. native Ange-Kevin Koua, who has served as Mboko’s hitting partner at practice since Day 1 of the tournament.
“It’s fun to see. It’s great for her to have so many people coming to support her, even just for practice.”
With Mboko’s Tuesday practice court not right up against the fence where the crowd is allowed, some spectators climbed a small grandstand and stood on a bench to get a glimpse of the soon-to-be top-50 player.
Life has changed quickly for Mboko, and that will present a new challenge. There are countless examples across the sporting landscape of athletes who have faltered after making rapid rises.
“It’s a danger, for sure it’s a danger,” Nathalie Tauziat, Mboko’s coach and a former world No. 3 player for France, told reporters when asked about the potential of the Canadian’s ranking rising faster than her development.
“There are tons of women who climb really high, but (then) struggled (and) don’t succeed in maintaining that level … Because when we succeed, we earn more money, more people are around us, life changes. Life changes and that’s normal, but you have to manage that to maintain the (composure) that she has today. She has to learn to manage everything around these results to keep her (composure), to be able to train properly, to be well in her head and in her life, and when you are well in your head and well in life, you play tennis well.”
Playing well hasn’t been a problem this week or this year for Mboko, who has the same amount of main-draw NBO wins as all other Canadians (men and women) have combined for in 2025.
Ranked outside the top 300 when she moved back to Canada from Belgium to train under Tauziat and a Tennis Canada team late last year, Mboko is now No. 85 and is guaranteed of being inside the top 50 when she completes play in what is just her seventh career WTA main draw. She’ll be inside the top 25 if she wins it all, which seemed unthinkable until just a few days ago.
The original plan, Tauziat said, was to shoot for the top 100 by the end of the year. A 51-9 record, highlighted by a one-sided win here over top seed Coco Gauff in the fourth round, has the powerful and hard-serving Mboko ahead of schedule. She’s the youngest semifinalist in this event since Belinda Bencic won the title at age 18 in 2015 in Toronto.
“Some players who rise (to a) very high level young, sometimes they lose the priority,” Tauziat said. “So what is going to be very important for Vicky is to keep the priority of tennis first over many thing arounds. I think it would be very important for her to stay (focused), and some players don’t do that. You can go up, but if you’re not continuing to progress and work hard, I mean, you can go down very quickly.”
Koua has known Mboko for about eight years, first meeting her at under-12 nationals when she was competing as a 10-year-old. He said the talent was obvious back then. Her attitude, Koua said, also should benefit Mboko moving forward.
“I would just say she looks like she enjoys being out there,” said Koua, who also has hit with big names like Coco Gauff and Rybakina this week.
“It doesn’t look like she puts a lot of pressure on herself. Just going out there enjoying the moment and a really down-to-earth person as well. I think that’s what helps her perform very well.”
Without her best stuff, Mboko polished off world No. 51 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals on Monday.
Mboko will need to raise her level to exact revenge on Rybakina, who beat Mboko 6-3, 7-5 two weeks ago in the round of 16 in Washington.
“I don’t know if she’s better this week than Washington, but she has maybe more confidence, so it can help,” Tauziat said. “Rybakina has played really (well) so far. She plays very fast, very hard, so it’s going to be tough. But the thing (Mboko) has more than Rybakina this week is the public, so (the fans) can change maybe something. We’ll see. We will see, but I’m sure the public will be behind Vicky.”
Mboko also feels the crowd could become a positive factor.
“I feel like the conditions are a little bit different now that I’m playing at home,” Mboko told Sportsnet’s Danielle Michaud on Tuesday. “Of course, I kind of know what to expect. I know how much I have to fight. I know Elena is a really great player and a really powerful player … I’ve been feeling pretty good with myself as well. I’m just looking forward to have a really fun match tomorrow.”
Rybakina, meanwhile, is well aware her opponent has momentum.
“She’s definitely dangerous,” the 2022 Wimbledon champ said. “She has nothing to lose, and I’m sure she’s enjoying out there. Yeah, it’s going to be a tough one.”
