She was one of last season’s sensations, though it didn’t make as much noise as it deserved. Victoria Mboko, just 18 years old, claimed the WTA 1000 in Montreal - thanks to a wildcard - by sweeping aside big names like Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Naomi Osaka in the final. In short, all Grand Slam champions.
If her win didn’t get enough attention, it might be because of some unfortunate precedents. The WTA has seen a few surprise champions who never managed to confirm their status.
Camila Giorgi in Montreal in 2021, Elena Vesnina at Indian Wells in 2017, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in Rome, and Aravane Rezai in Madrid in 2010: these are WTA 1000 winners who never broke into the top 10.
And let’s not forget the most famous of all: Emma Raducanu, who has never built on her unforgettable US Open 2021 victory.
The rise isn’t over yet
That’s probably why analysts were so eager to comment after the Canadian’s home victory. And when she followed it up with four straight losses, the pressure eased. It was only natural to need time to digest such a win, but it took just four tournaments.
By the fifth, she was threatening Elena Rybakina in Tokyo, and in the sixth, she claimed her second WTA title in Hong Kong. She finished the year ranked 18th in the world.
Still, no one really knew what to expect from Mboko at the start of this season. Even though hard courts are her best surface, the competition is fiercer than ever.
But despite playing only four WTA tournaments in 2026, her results speak for themselves: runner-up at the WTA 500 in Adelaide, round of 16 at the Australian Open, finalist at the WTA 1000 in Doha, and quarter-finalist at the WTA 1000 in Indian Wells!
And she’s taken down an impressive list of opponents along the way: Madison Keys, Clara Tauson, Mirra Andreeva, Rybakina, Jeļena Ostapenko, and most recently Amanda Anisimova in California.
Her four losses: to Andreeva, Karolina Muchova in the final in Qatar, and twice against the world number one herself, Aryna Sabalenka.
Her two matches against the Belarusian, less than two months apart, show immediate progress: in Melbourne, she was overwhelmed from the start, dominated in the first set, and although she took advantage of Sabalenka’s nerves when she served for the match, she never really believed she could win.
At Indian Wells, she was competitive from the outset, saving four break points in the first set before losing in the tiebreak.
And in the second set, even though she lost her serve, she had two chances to break back and remained a threat until the end. It’s a clear step forward in terms of level and resilience, suggesting her potential is far from reached. Is it time to dream big for what’s next?
Looking ahead
Her run in Miami could give her another chance to push her limits. Two wins are expected against Anna Blinkova and possibly Anna Kalinskaya on the way to the round of 16, where she could face one of the circuit’s benchmarks for the first time: Iga Swiatek.
It’s a potentially fascinating matchup, given the Canadian’s 5-6 record against Top 10 players. Swiatek is probably the last major WTA figure she hasn’t played yet. Another chance to prove her true talent. But what comes after is even more intriguing.
With her powerful game and variety, everyone is eager to see what Mboko can do on clay. Last year, before her Canadian triumph, she pushed Coco Gauff to a third set in Rome, then made it through qualifying at Roland-Garros, even winning two rounds in the main draw before running into a still-in-form Qinwen Zheng.
She also reached a WTA 125 final between those two performances. That doesn’t add up to a huge number of points to defend.
Right now, the Canadian is ranked ninth in the WTA standings. And she’s “only” less than 600 points away from seventh place, currently held by Elina Svitolina.
The top six is out of reach - for now - but the possibility of being seeded seventh at Roland-Garros is real, with all the advantages that brings for the draw. Still, nothing is guaranteed. The example of Andreeva proves it.
This time last year, the Russian had just pulled off an improbable Dubai–Indian Wells double in WTA 1000 events. The WTA circuit was at her feet, and people were already calling her the future world number one.
A year later, she’s added a WTA 500 title in Adelaide (beating Mboko in the final), but hasn’t reached a single semi-final in a Grand Slam or Masters 1000, and at Indian Wells, after losing to Katerina Siniakova in the round of 16, she had a major meltdown in front of the crowd. She could even drop out of the top 10 after Miami.
Mboko has taken a different path than the Russian. She broke through on the ITF circuit and seized her chance at the highest level, even though, unlike Mirra Andreeva, she wasn’t tipped as a future star. Yet that’s exactly what she’s becoming...