There have been whispers about Mboko\u2019s burgeoning talent throughout the 2025 season.<\/p>\n
After all, the Canadian starlet started the season on a 22-match win streak, capturing five ITF titles. The 18-year-old has also notched multiple Grand Slam main draw victories in 2025.<\/p>\n
![\"Victoria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2228128527-1024x731.jpg\")
Photo by Minas Panagiotakis\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Paula Badosa, who won a hard-fought contest against Mboko<\/a> in March, made a prediction about the 18-year-old which has already been realised<\/p>\n Paula Badosa said Victoria Mboko would be \u2018at the top very soon\u2019<\/p>\n In March, Paula Badosa and Victoria Mboko played each other for the first time in their careers.<\/p>\n The pair met in the round of 64 at the Miami Open. Mboko had beaten Camila Osorio, while Badosa was given a first-round bye.<\/p>\n After taking the first set 7-5, the Spaniard was stunned by Mboko, losing the second set 1-6. However, Badosa ultimately claimed the match on a third-set tiebreak. <\/p>\n Stephen Boughton, host of \u2018The Slice Tennis\u2019 podcast, revealed a conversation Paula Badosa had with him after her contest against Mboko.<\/p>\n Boughton said:\u00a0\u201cIn Miami I ran into Paula Badosa in the elevator right after she\u2019d played Victoria Mboko and I asked her about her.<\/p>\n \u201cI said \u2018what do you think about Vicky?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd she\u2019s like \u2018oh she\u2019s incredible, she\u2019s incredible, she\u2019s going to be at the top very soon.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cSo, she\u2019s a prophet, Badosa. Victoria Mboko\u2019s now in the top 50, beat Coco Gauff, made the run in the semis of a Masters 1000. <\/p>\n \u201cSo you know the writing was on the wall you know even only four or five months ago in March, but she had a wildcard into that tournament, isn\u2019t going to need wildcards anymore. <\/p>\n \u201cYeah, and Victoria Mboko is big time.\u201d<\/p>\n Mboko, ranked 85 in the world, is projected to rise to 34 after defeating Rybakina<\/a>. She may rise even further if she beats Naomi Osaka in the Canadian Open<\/a> final.<\/p>\n What Paula Badosa told Victoria Mboko at the net<\/p>\n Speaking to the Tennis Channel following her victory over Mboko, Badosa expressed her surprise at the level of her opponent.<\/p>\n The presenter said: \u201cBoy, did you have to fight out there today.\u201d<\/p>\n The Spaniard replied: I really did and I have to give credit to her [Mboko], what a player. What a player, honestly.<\/p>\n \u201cI was really shocked. Okay, it was my first match after injury, after a while. I know I need some matches. But I felt she was playing unbelievable tennis, very good potential, fearless, and I had no other option [but] to fight until the end.\u201d<\/p>\n Badosa also shared what she had told the 18-year-old at the net.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cI was really impressed with her level. I told her to keep working because she\u2019s going to the top. She has everything to be at the top.<\/p>\n \u201cI know what it takes to be at the top but I know also the level you need and I think she has every conditions to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victoria Mboko is through to her first WTA-1000 final after defeating Elena Rybakina on Thursday night. The 18-year-old…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,11230,7795,43162,85,747,27517,20337],"class_list":{"0":"post-51392","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-canadian-open","11":"tag-miami-open","12":"tag-paula-badosa","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-tennis","15":"tag-victoria-mboko","16":"tag-wta-tennis-players"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Paula](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2205597842-1024x701.jpg\")
Photo by Leonardo Fernandez\/Getty Images<\/p>\n