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\n Victoria Mboko didn\u2019t even have a picture on the Women\u2019s Tennis Association (WTA) website before the Canadian Open in Montreal. Now, the 18-year-old is set to face four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka<\/a> in the first WTA Tour final of her career.\n <\/p>\n \n Facing the brink of elimination in the semifinal against 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, the wild card entry saved match point and was forced to take a medical timeout for a wrist injury all within the third set before the Canadian crowd spurred the hometown teenage phenom to a 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) comeback win.\n <\/p>\n \n Mboko\u2019s road to the final required victories over 2025 French Open winner Coco Gauff<\/a>, Sofia Kenin and Rybakina \u2013 that trio comprising four grand slam singles titles \u2013 to make her the first Canadian to dispatch three grand slam champions in a single WTA Tour event in the Open Era.\n <\/p>\n \n She\u2019s also the youngest Canadian woman to reach the final of the country\u2019s hallmark tournament and only the fourth to ever do so.\n <\/p>\n \n Add to that, Mboko is only the third wild card to reach the Canadian Open women\u2019s final, joining the likes of former world No. 1s Monica Seles, who did it in 1995, and Simona Halep, who achieved the feat in 2015, per the WTA<\/a>. Not bad company to be in.\n <\/p>\n \n At the end of 2024, Mboko\u2019s ranking was at No. 350. She reached her highest ranking of 85 late last month. Now, she\u2019s assured to be one of the top 40 players in the world, no matter Thursday night\u2019s result.\n <\/p>\n \n Mboko\u2019s only other experience in a final came at the Parma Open, a lower-tier WTA 125 tournament, where she finished runner-up in May.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cNo words can even describe how I feel right now. You know, nothing would\u2019ve ever prepared me to be in the final. If you would\u2019ve told me last year that I was gonna be in the final here, I would\u2019ve said, \u2018You\u2019re crazy,\u2019\u201d Mboko said, smiling, after her semifinal victory.\n <\/p>\n \n Canadian flags, \u201cAllez Vicky\u201d signs, and giant cardboard cut-outs of Mboko\u2019s face flooded the raucous stands at IGA Stadium on Wednesday. No doubt the crowd is just as rocking when their fellow countrywoman wonderkid takes center court for the biggest test of her career Thursday evening.\n <\/p>\n \n Born August 26, 2006, in North Carolina to parents who had emigrated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the late 1990s, the family moved to Toronto when she was a child. The youngest of four siblings, Mboko picked up her own racket at the age of 3, having been inspired by her three tennis-playing siblings, according to the WTA<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n And in a full circle moment, the 18-year-old told the WTA<\/a> earlier this summer she used to attend the Canadian Open with her brothers and sister as a child.\n <\/p>\n \n Her family\u2019s support is a driving factor in her young career; in fact, she\u2019ll look for them in the stands when she feels nervous. \u201cFamily brings us a sort of comfort that like no one else can kind of replicate,\u201d she said<\/a> in a WTA feature.\n <\/p>\n \n Known for her powerful play and movement on the court, it\u2019s her mentality that seems well beyond her 18 years.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI\u2019ve been in situations where the score was tight and I kind of panicked a little bit, but I really wanted to calm myself down and just forget about the last point and always focus on the next,\u201d the teenager said about rallying back in her semifinal victory.\n <\/p>\n![\"Mboko](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/02-gettyimages-2228128358.JPG\")
<\/p>\n![\"Mboko](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/03-gettyimages-2228128329.JPG\")
<\/p>\n![\"Mboko](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/04-gettyimages-2228128690.JPG\")
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