Victoria Mboko couldn’t contain her admiration for Naomi Osaka after triumphing over her idol in the Canadian Open final. Mboko’s stunning victory, with a scoreline of 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 against Osaka, came as a shock to the tennis world, especially since Osaka had previously been taken aback upon discovering that the 18-year-old looked up to her. With this win, Mboko etched her name alongside Faye Urban (1969) and Bianca Andreescu (2019) as one of the few Canadian players to win the tournaments in the Open Era.
Mboko’s path to glory was marked by victories over four Grand Slam champions – Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Sofia Kenin, and Osaka herself – making her the second-youngest female player to defeat such an illustrious line-up in a single event. Following her dominant performance, Mboko thanked the many people who’ve helped her reach this point – including Osaka. “First of all, it’s been an incredible week here in Montreal,” she said. “I first want to thank the ball kids and the officials and all the volunteers who helped this week. I also want to thank Naomi for an incredible match. I’ve always looked up to her when I was really little, so it’s always great to play with such an amazing player like you.”
Osaka had earlier this week expressed her astonishment at being an inspiration to Mboko, saying: “I don’t think that’s ever happened. I’m shook. It’s really cute. I guess I have to have a really good attitude tomorrow. I can’t let her not like me anymore.
“It’s funny because I see her on the TV and I was low-key like that’s my little twin because we both have our blue dresses and our buns and everything. But yeah, I’m really honoured. I always said that I’d love to play someone that looked up to me in a way, so it’s happening way sooner than I thought it would.”
Mboko seems to have taken inspiration from Osaka, as she reflected on her own success. The Canadian shared: “When I was younger these kinds of achievements seemed so far away, but I would have never known I would come so close,” and emotionally added, “So, I mean, to do something like this and to tell my younger self that just to keep training, keep believing in yourself and … oh my god, I’m getting so emotional right now.”
During the first set at IGA Stadium, Osaka looked to be in control, yet she found it challenging to maintain her composure as unforced errors piled up and the indifferent crowd’s energy increased. Following the heart-wrenching loss, the 27-year-old struggled to articulate her feelings while attempting to hold back tears.
“I don’t really wanna take up too much time, so I’ll just say thank you to everyone,” she managed to say, her voice breaking with emotion. “Thank you to my team, thank you to the ball kids, thank you to the organisers and all the volunteers. I hope you guys had a good night.”
A version of this story appeared on the Express US