Victoria Mboko stunned the tennis world in Montreal with a dream-like run that ended with the then-18-year-old lifting her first WTA 1000 trophy in front of a home crowd.
Tokyo: Scores | Draw | Order of play
With the triumph, many overlooked her youth and the likelihood of growing pains as she continued to develop. So, when Mboko lost four consecutive first-round matches in recent months, speculation swirled that her Montreal title was a fluke — criticism that ignored the high caliber of her recent opponents. Through it all, Mboko remained focused, confident she would turn things around. As it turns out all she needed was a return to familiar ground to rediscover that Montreal magic.
Back in April, before her rise to stardom, Mboko notched two wins at the Billie Jean King Cup on the same court where she faced fellow Canadian Bianca Andreescu in the first round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Tuesday. She picked up right where she left off, defeating Andreescu 6-3, 6-3 in just 1 hour and 15 minutes — her first win since Montreal.
“Playing here kind of made me think back to April,” Mboko said after the match. “I had a really great week and had a lot of fun playing on this court. When I was walking back out (today), I had the same feeling. It brought me some nostalgia, and I felt really happy to be here. To play on center court is always really nice.”
Shaking off the hangover: Mboko isn’t the first — and won’t be the last — player to experience a post-breakthrough slump. Although the irony of her enduring a tennis hangover just weeks before she was legally able to experience a real one isn’t lost here.
Still, few expected such a long wait for her next win.
Several factors contributed to her recent struggles. A lingering wrist injury from Montreal slowed her in the weeks that followed, and tough draws didn’t help. During that stretch, she faced two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova and world No. 10 Ekaterina Alexandrova.
If any of that weighed on her mind Tuesday, it didn’t show. Mboko raced to a 3-0 lead and never looked back, claiming the first set in just 35 minutes. She then broke early in the second for a 3-2 advantage before serving out the match.
Clean tennis, clear mind: The key to getting back in the win column? Clean tennis.
She landed nearly 70% of her first serves and won 77% of those points, maintaining control of the match throughout. Andreescu broke once in the first set but failed to mount any resistance on return after that.
Not only did Mboko keep the ball in the service box, but she also kept the ball in the court. She finished with more winners than unforced errors — 20 to 18 — and outperformed Andreescu in both categories. She never trailed in the match.
What’s next: Mboko’s second-round opponent in Tokyo is a surging Eva Lys, who defeated Katie Boulter 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour in the first round.
Mboko holds bragging rights from their only previous meeting, a 6-4, 6-4 win at Roland Garros earlier this year.
A win for Lys would mark her third time reaching the quarterfinals this season and second time in a row following her run in Beijing where she lost to Coco Gauff. For Mboko, a victory would mean just her second WTA-level quarterfinal.