Toronto’s Victoria Mboko is one of just two Canadians remaining in the women’s singles bracket at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers.
In Tuesday night’s match, 18-year-old Mboko defeated 23rd-seeded American Sofia Kenin 6-2, 6-3 in 80 minutes. Kenin had received a bye into the second round based on her ranking.
Mboko now advances to the third round, where she will face Marie Bouzkova of Czechia on Thursday. Earlier Tuesday, Bouzkova eliminated 14th-seeded Russian Diana Shnaider 6-2, 7-6.
“Thank you to everyone who came to support me — merci beaucoup,” said Mboko to the Montreal crowd post-match. “It was a really tough battle playing really late at night, it’s a very new experience for me. But I’m so happy to get the win today and to be here to celebrate it with everyone here as well.”
Mboko, currently ranked No. 88 in the world, was one of seven Canadians awarded a wild card into the WTA 1000 main draw.
She has enjoyed a meteoric rise up the WTA rankings in 2025, having started the season as the 350th-ranked player in the world.
Tuesday night’s win marked her fifth top-50 victory of the year and made her the youngest Canadian to defeat a Grand Slam champion in women’s singles at the National Bank Open.
The only other Canadian woman remaining in the singles bracket is Eugenie Bouchard, who extended her career with a first-round win over Colombia’s Emiliana Arango on Monday night.
Leylah Fernandez and Rebecca Marino were eliminated with losses on Tuesday, while Bianca Andreescu withdrew after her first-round victory over Barbora Krejcikova of Czechia due to an ankle injury.
— with files from The Canadian Press
