MADRID — This time last year, Victoria Mboko played in the WTA 125 L’Open 35 de Saint Malo in France, ranked No. 156 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz.

Fast forward to 2026, the World No. 10 is making her debut at the Mutua Madrid Open with a first-round bye, beginning her clay-court season after quarterfinal runs at Indian Wells and Miami.

Mboko was scheduled to compete for Canada and the team’s Billie Jean King Cup tie in Kazakhstan as a tune up for Madrid, but following Miami, she had to undergo wisdom teeth surgery, common among many late teenagers. 

“I got all four of mine taken out and I knew the recovery was going to be pretty tough for me, so I decided not to play a lot of the tournaments,” Mboko said during media day in Madrid. “At least I don’t have problems when I’m on the road.

“It was quite an experience,” she said laughing. “I wouldn’t say it was very positive, but a lot of tears and a lot of soup so it’s OK.”

Plenty of soup and vanilla ice cream powered Mboko through her four days of recovery at home before she traveled to Europe to begin preparations for the clay-court swing, which she added she’s only had a few days to get adjusted to the conditions.

In 2025, she only played two tour-level clay tournaments, reaching the second round in Rome and third round at Roland Garros. As for Madrid, given it’s her first experience, she has no metric or specific expectations heading into the tournament. 

“I’d say coming into this tournament, I don’t play a lot on clay, so maybe in my first couple of matches, especially in my first one, I want to get a feel for the court, Mboko said. “I know there’s some altitude here and the ball, it’s playing pretty fast for me at least. I guess it’s important to just adapt to the conditions and try to get my last few days of training and to prepare well for my first round.

“I don’t mind. I feel like I’m able to kind of adjust based off — because I know there’s going to be fast and slow courts everywhere. I’m able to kind of adjust the way I’m playing to how it’s playing. So we’ll see how I react to it. Maybe I’ll like it. Maybe it’s not going to be in my favor, so we don’t know.” 

With the first-round bye, Mboko will face the winner of Caty McNally and a qualifier or lucky loser, determined at the end of Tuesday’s qualifying play.Â