Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko has staged a surprising comeback to defeat four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka to assert her maiden WTA title on the Canadian Open.
The 18-year-old got here again after shedding the opening set to the Japanese former world primary, who had established a 3-0 lead as Mboko struggled with pricey service errors.
However the dwelling favorite discovered her rhythm within the second set, breaking serve to determine a 5-2 lead. Osaka struggled to catch up, and her poor returns allowed Mboko to stage the match and power a decider.
The decisive second got here within the third set, when Mboko took a 3-1 lead after saving 4 break factors in a pivotal fourth recreation that gave her a agency grip on the match as she went on to assert the title with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win after 2 hours and 4 minutes of play.
“I need to thank Naomi for an unimaginable match. I’ve at all times regarded as much as her after I was actually little. It is at all times nice to play with such a tremendous participant such as you,” Mboko mentioned.
Mboko mentioned she “could not be extra grateful” to the raucous Canadian followers who bought behind her, with the influence even being felt within the males’s remaining in Toronto, the place play between Ben Shelton and Karen Khachanov was stopped as information of her win filtered via the more and more jubilant crowd.
“What is going on on?” Shelton was seen saying, earlier than approaching umpire Fergus Murphy, who instructed him the information.
Mboko was ranked eighty fifth on the earth earlier than the ultimate however will now soar all the best way to a career-high 25, one spot behind Osaka in twenty fourth.
Remarkably, Osaka was the fourth main champion Mboko beat in Montreal, with victories over 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, 2025 French and 2023 US Open winner Coco Gauff, and 2022 Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina.
For Osaka, who was making an attempt to revive her profession after an inconsistent interval following her return from maternity depart final 12 months, the defeat introduced her groundbreaking match to an finish.
This loss additionally prolonged Osaka’s title drought on the high stage.
Though she received a WTA 125 clay-court match in Might, the WTA Tour solely consists of 250 tournaments and above, that means her final triumph got here on the 2021 Australian Open.
Reuters
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