Montreal: An 18-year-old Canadian wild card Victoria Mboko stunned four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to win her first WTA 1000 title on home soil at the Canadian Open. After dropping the first set in the championship match, Mboko once again showed her resilience and fighting spirit, breaking in the opening game of the second set which seemed to throw Osaka off her game even though she managed to break back twice during the frame.
Mboko carried her momentum into the final set, cruising to victory against a discouraged opponent to achieve a destiny that seemed written in the stars from the moment she stepped foot in Montreal.
The victory moves Mboko to a career-high no. 25 on the WTA rankings, guaranteeing that she will be seeded for the first at a Grand Slam in New York later this month. Since 1970, Mboko is the second Canadian semifinalist, finalist, and champion, at the Canadian Open after Bianca Andreescu in 2019.
Coming into the tournament, Mboko was ranked 85th in the world. Her victory makes her the second-lowest ranked player to win a Tier I / WTA 1000 title since the format’s introduction in 1990. IANS
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