In the span of just over a week, Canada’s Victoria Mboko has gone from budding star to all-out tennis sensation at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers, and on Wednesday night in Montreal she’ll take centre court in her biggest matchup yet.
Mboko’s sprint through the tournament’s bracket has been nothing sort of incredible. It started last Sunday with a straight-sets victory over Kimberly Birrell in the Round of 128, continued two days later with another lopsided victory against 23-seed Sofia Kenin, and then kept on rolling — past Marie Bouzkovà, top-ranked Coco Gauff, and then Jessica Bouzas Maneiro — to make it to Wednesday’s semi-final.
That run has seen her claim the same number of main-draw wins at the 2025 NBO as all other Canadian men and women combined in this year’s tournament. At 18, she’s the youngest semi-finalist at this event in a decade.
Although Mboko didn’t have her best match Monday night, it was enough to earn her a rematch against Elena Rybakina — a familiar face for the young Canuck. The two met just two weeks ago in Washington, when Rybakina defeated Mboko in straight sets in the Round of 16.
Of course, as Mboko herself said on Tuesday, the conditions in Montreal will hit different with the crowd firmly on her side.
“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.”
The field of play is now down to just four contenders in both the women’s and men’s competition at the National Bank Open. Here’s what else is on tap for Wednesday.
Tauson’s emotional run continues
If Mboko can continue her hot streak, she’ll take on the winner of Wednesday’s showdown between Japan’s Naomi Osaka and Denmark’s Clara Tauson, who will take centre court to close out the semi-final stage of the tournament.
Osaka, ranked 49th in the world, has had her best career showing at the Canadian tournament, her path to her first career National Bank Open semi-final seeing her post three straight lopsided match scores since earning a spot in the Round of 32. She toppled 10th-seed Elina Svitolina in straight sets on Tuesday to advance to Wednesday’s semi-final.
Osaka takes on a familiar opponent in Tauson. The two competed in the final at Auckland in January, with Tauson winning the title after Osaka was forced to retire due to injury. This will be their second time squaring off.
Tauson, 22, is now just two wins away from her first career WTA Tour 1000 title, but it’s been a difficult journey. Earlier this week, she announced her grandfather had passed away.
“I really wanted to come out here and show my best tennis for him,” she said after her match on Tuesday. “Hopefully he’s watching.”
Can top-seeded Zverev return to the final?
As top-seed Alexander Zverev prepares to square off against 11th-seed Karen Khachanov, both players find themselves in familiar territory at the National Bank Open.
Zverev won the tournament in 2017, defeating the great Roger Federer for what was Zverev’s second Masters 1000 title at the time. Currently ranked third in the world, Zverev has held a top-10 ranking on the ATP tour for most of his career since that 2017 victory, and hasn’t budged from his top-four billing in a year. But despite attempts to return to the NBO’s biggest stage, Zverev has been unable to get past the quarter-finals of the tournament since — until this year, that is. Zverev defeated defending champion Alexei Popyrin on Monday to cut short the Australian’s title defence and make it back to the semi-finals for the first time since 2017.
Khachanov, too, has a connection to that 2017 tournament — which was his first appearance at the National Bank Open, and although he hasn’t reached the top in the Canadian competition he has twice appeared in the semi-finals. Khachanov, who is ranked 16th on the ATP tour, defeated American Alex Michelsen on Monday to advance to his third.
There’s a little history between these two, having gone head-to-head seven times. Zverev has a clear edge with a 5-2 advantage, his most notable victory over Khachanov coming at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Zverev has defeated Khachanov in three straight matchups, including that golden victory. They’ve met just once before in Canada, with Khachanov defeating Zverev in the quarter-finals of the 2019 National Bank Open.
Top American men’s pros square off
Whichever competitor emerges from Wednesday’s first semi-final will be watching closely as Americans Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz, the tournament’s fourth and second seeds, respectively, battle for a spot in the final north of the border.
Both have been on a hot streak this summer. Fritz was one win away from making the Wimbledon final in June, falling just short against eventual runner-up Carlos Alcaraz. Shelton, meanwhile, lost to top seed (and eventual tournament champion) Jannik Sinner in the quarter-final in London.
Fritz has competed in Canada’s top tournament six times before this year, twice making it to the Round of 16, in 2022 and 2023. This is Shelton’s third time competing at the National Bank Open, having lost in the Round of 32 in both 2023 (versus Alcaraz) and 2024 (Popyrin).
Fritz and Shelton have squared off against one another just once, with Fritz defeating his fellow countryman at Indian Wells in 2023 in the Round of 64.
BROADCAST SCHEDULE (All times ET)
Women’s: 6 p.m., Sportsnet, Sportsnet+
Men’s: 7 p.m., Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet+
MATCH SCHEDULE (All times ET)
Centre Court (starts at 3 p.m.)
Coco Gauff (U.S.) and McCartney Kessler (U.S.) vs. [3] Taylor Townsend (U.S.) and Shuai Zhang (China)
Not before 6 p.m.
[Wild card] Victoria Mboko (Canada) vs. [9] Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
[16] Clara Tauson (Denmark) vs. Naomi Osaka (Japan)
Centre Court (starts at 4:30 p.m.)
[6] Joe Salisbury (Great Britain) / Neal Skupski (Great Britain) vs. Maximo Gonzalez (Argentina) / Andres Molteni (Argentina)
Not before 7 p.m.
[1] Alexander Zverev (Germany) vs. [11] Karen Khachanov (Russia)
[4] Ben Shelton (U.S.) vs. [2] Taylor Fritz (U.S.)
