Canadian Open: Mboko Upsets no.1 seed Gauff to seal QF spot

Toronto, Aug 3 (IANS) On Sunday, Victoria Mboko knocked off No. 1 seed Coco Gauff at the Omnium Banque Nationale 6-1, 6-4 in a little over an hour to advance to Monday’s quarterfinals. She’s the youngest woman to make the elite eight here since Gauff three years ago.

Mboko is only the second wild card in the Open Era to defeat the top seed at the Canadian Open after Stephanie Dubois in 2006 (versus Kim Clijsters). She’s the fifth youngest player to defeat the top seed in a WTA 1000 event since the format’s introduction in 2009 -- older only than Gauff (Rome 2021), Mirra Andreeva (Indian Wells 2025), Belinda Bencic (Toronto 2015) and Kai Chen Chang (Tokyo 2009)

Mboko is also the youngest Canadian quarterfinalist at the Canadian Open since Helen Kelesi in 1987, as per WTA.

Mboko, who began the season at No. 333 in the PIF WTA Rankings, came into the tournament at No. 85. The win over Gauff sends her to No. 53 in the live rankings. One more would bring her to No. 24.

It began with 20 straight wins in smaller events and four titles. She qualified in Rome -- her second WTA Tour event -- and pushed Gauff to three sets in a second-round match.

Mboko, showing enormous poise, managed to save all five break points against her, while converting four of five against Gauff. That essentially was the match.

Mboko will play the winner of the later match between Zhu Lin and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in a Monday quarterfinal match.

The other quarterfinal pits No. 24 seed Marta Kostyuk versus No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina

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Kostyuk outlasted No. 28 McCartney Kessler 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in a marathon that ranto 2 hours and 35 minutes. Rybakina defeated No. 30 Dayana Yastremska in a similar match, prevailing 5-7, 6-2, 7-5.

--IANS