Mboko dropped to her knees after Osaka fired a shot into the net as a raucous, packed house burst into cheers around centre court. Following the victory, she ran and hugged her family and coaches. Following the win, Mboko said, "It's been an incredible week here in Montreal. Montreal, je vous aime!"
Victoria Mboko (Pic: X/@WTA)
In the National Bank Open, Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko clinched the title by defeating Japan's star Naomi Osaka in the final.
The Canadian defeated Osaka by 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the title clash. The win also marked the 18-year-old's first-ever WTA title. With this, she also joined the likes of Faye Urban (1969) and Bianca Andreescu (2019) to win the home event in the open era.
But Naomi Osaka was on the ropes again in the third game, drawing a warning for batting a ball skyward in frustration after missing her first serve on a break point.
The win also helped Victoria to climb to the 25th rank in the world from the 85th rank.
Mboko dropped to her knees after Osaka fired a shot into the net as a raucous, packed house burst into cheers around centre court. Following the victory, she ran and hugged her family and coaches.
The runner-up of the event, Naomi Osaka, didn't congratulate the winner. The Japanese star also did not speak to the media following the loss against the 18-year-old. "Thanks, I guess," said the 27-year-old Japanese athlete.
Following the win, Mboko said, "It's been an incredible week here in Montreal. Montreal, je vous aime!".
There were 13 service breaks in 25 games, with Mboko converting eight of nine break points. Fighting a wrist problem after a fall on Wednesday, Mboko had 13 double-faults.
Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Congolese parents, Mboko grew up in Toronto. She beat four major champions in the hard-court event, routing top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 and also topping Osaka, Sofia Kenin and Elena Rybakina.
On the other hand, Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam champion who reached No. 1 in the world, had her best performance in a WTA 1000 tournament since also reaching the Miami final in 2022. She stepped away for 15 months toward the end of that season and had a daughter, Shai, in July 2023. She's winless since the 2021 Australian Open.
Victoria Mboko is the third wild card to win a WTA 1000 title event, following Maria Sharapova at Cincinnati in 2011 and Andreescu at Indian Wells in 2019.
(With Agencies' Inputs)
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