Gauff has praised Mboko more than once. Prior to their tussle in Canada, she needed three sets to fend off a then-ranked 156th Mboko at the Rome Masters.
“For sure on the movement, I would say she’s up there with me on that,” the two-time Grand Slam winner, who knows a thing or two about athleticism, said.
In Canada, Gauff added, “I do see someone who is going to have a really bright future.”
Mboko added to her trophy haul in Hong Kong in November and with her showing in Adelaide, got off to a fine start in 2026. But as the level-headed teenager knows, this season marks her first full campaign at the highest level.
Opponents will dissect her game further as, dually, expectations from onlookers rise. Not that the latter particularly worries her.
“If you’re going to do well you’re going to have expectations, so it’s a positive thing at the end of the day,” Mboko said in Adelaide.
“I don’t want to take it in a way where you have to win or ‘you have to do this,’ but you just want to always improve each day.
“I feel like I’m at the very beginning of my career, so I don’t want to set these unrealistic standards for myself. But of course I want to do well for myself.”
Mboko meets another teen – 17-year-old Gold Coast native Emerson Jones – in the first round in her Australian Open debut on Monday. How will she handle the quick turnaround?
Iva Jovic
Jovic couldn’t quite make it four straight US winners in Hobart over the weekend, falling short in the final against Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
Coupled, though, with a semifinal in Auckland, the 18-year-old is set to compete at AO 2026 with a new career high ranking (No.27).
A former top two junior like Andreeva – who reached No.1 – Jovic became the youngest American woman to hoist a trophy since Gauff in Parma in 2021 when she went all the way at the 500-level Guadalajara Open last September.
Adept at using her opponents’ pace, Jovic has shown she’s a player for all surfaces, winning professional titles on hard, grass and clay in 2025.