MONTREAL (AP) — Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko rallied to reach the National Bank Open final, beating ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) on Wednesday night.
The 18-year-old Mboko dropped to the court after Rybakina’s shot sailed long on match point as the crowd — lined with “Allez Vicky” — erupted. Mboko saved a match point in the third set and broke Rybakina twice to force the tiebreaker.
Mboko, ranked 85th in the world, is seeking her first WTA Tour title and trying to join Faye Urban (1969) and Bianca Andreescu (2019) as the only Canadians to win the home event in the open era. On Thursday night, she’ll face the winner of the second semifinal between Japanese star Naomi Osaka and 16th-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark.
Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Congolese parents, Mboko grew up in Toronto. She upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the quarterfinals, then topped Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6-2 on Monday.
From Kazakhstan, Rybakina won at Wimbledon in 2022. She has nine career WTA Tour victories, winning in May on clay at Strasbourg. Rybakina beat Mboko 6-3, 7-5 last month in Washington.
Mboko overcame 11 double-faults and battled through a wrist injury after stumbling awkwardly to the ground in the second game of the third set. She’ll will move up to at least 34th in the world after starting the year outside the top 300.
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