After her extraordinary win at the National Bank Open in Montreal, 18-year-old tennis sensation Victoria Mboko is being celebrated as a role model for the next generation of Canadian athletes.

The phenom from Burlington, Ont., took the National Bank Open title on Thursday after defeating four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the final match.

Yosabeth Agonafer of the Alberta-based group Black Girls in Tennis says Mboko’s victory on Canadian soil paves the way for more representation of Black Canadian women in tennis.

She says many girls of colour look up to athletes like Serena and Venus Williams and Coco Gauff, and it’s inspiring to see a Black Canadian player succeed on the world stage.

Doug Burke, president of ACE Tennis and one of Mboko’s coaches during her training days in Burlington, says she is showing younger Canadians of “any colour or upbringing” that it’s possible to achieve the heights of success.

He says it was “overwhelming” to watch the rising star give a “quite outstanding” performance at the tournament.

‘I’m just happy to live in the moment’

Mboko is skipping the ongoing tournament in Cincinnati and will instead look ahead to the upcoming U.S. Open. She will be a seeded player at the final Grand Slam of the season.

Mboko said she likes to be “really relaxed and calm,” which will serve her well in the pressure-cooker setting of Flushing Meadows starting Aug. 24.

“I think going forward, I just want to keep the same routines that I’m usually used to,” she said. “I don’t want to put so much pressure on myself just because of something that happened this week, because life goes on.

“There’s always another tournament, whether (I) win or lose. I’m just happy to live in the moment. Once it’s passed, it’s passed.”

WATCH | Canadian sensation Victoria Mboko wins the National Bank Open:

Canada’s Victoria Mboko wins the National Bank Open

Victoria Mboko capped an unreal run in Montreal to capture the National Bank Open title.

At the National Bank Open, four former Grand Slam champions — Osaka, Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina — all fell to the Toronto player.

It can be easy to forget that Mboko is still a teenager, said said Robert Bettauer, a former director of tennis development with Tennis Canada, especially given her on-court play is matched by her off-court professionalism. 

“I feel like the ingredients are definitely there in terms of a whole package,” Bettauer said. “Athleticism, technical expertise, power, court intelligence, and the big one is emotional: mental control and management.”

“She seems like a very grounded, sensible individual, and she’s got all the tools,” said Bettauer, a longtime player, broadcaster and CEO of the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence.

Mboko is now the highest-ranked Canadian on tour, moving two spots ahead of Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que. She also joined fifth-ranked Russian Mirra Andreeva — who’s also 18 — as the only under-20 players in the top 25.