Coco Gauff has acknowledged the quality of tennis displayed by emerging player Victoria Mboko following her surprising defeat to the young talent at the National Bank Open
The top seed lost 6-1, 6-4, to the 18-year-old who only qualified for the main draw through a wildcard. Gauff has had difficulty establishing her rhythm in the tournament, committing nearly 40 double faults in her initial two matches. Nonetheless, this aspect of her performance improved marginally against Moboko, as the American committed just six double faults, yet she generated 22 unforced errors in total. Mboko enters the quarterfinals after losing one set in four matches, with that set coming against Marie Bouzkova. The young player began 2025 ranked outside the top 300 but has experienced a swift ascent over the last six months to now hold the position of 85th. “I anticipated she would enter with great confidence, and she has easily claimed victory in her initial rounds,” stated Gauff
To be honest, I haven’t performed well in this tournament, so I realized it would be challenging. I sensed I could improve, but I also realized that if I eased my effort slightly, she would exploit those opportunities, and she did. “She is quite athletic.” “She’s an excellent ball striker and appears quite optimistic on the court, not becoming overly negative,” the world No. 2 mentioned
Having defeated Sofia Kenin earlier in the tournament, Mboko becomes the third Canadian woman since 1990 to overcome multiple Grand Slam champions in the same event, and the first to achieve this since Leylah Fernandez at the 2021 US Open. She is the youngest Canadian to reach the quarter-finals at the tournament since Helen Kelesi in 1987. Gauff, three years senior, understands what typically climbs the rankings at a young age. Unavoidably, some are making parallels between her and Mboko, a notion she contests
“She is a totally different player, entirely different individual,” Gauff declares. “I have never been someone who compares myself to others, whether it’s people comparing me to Serena or Venus, and I don’t believe it’s right to place that on her too.”
“I definitely see someone who is destined for a very bright future.” While Mboko gets ready for her upcoming match with Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Gauff redirects her focus to Cincinnati, aiming to recover her form before the US Open starts at the end of this month
I sensed that during practice I was performing well over the past couple of weeks, just training. She acknowledges, “I chose to take a break and not participate in D.C. to concentrate on that, and perhaps it wasn’t the best choice.” “It might have been wiser to gain additional experience with matches.” However, it’s the initial event of the hard court season, so I’m optimistic that in Cincy and New York I can discover that rhythm.
