Victoria’s reign! Teen queen Mboko rocks Montreal fans

Fearless Canadian blitzes Osaka for title

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Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko conquered four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday, capping a fairytale run at the WTA Canadian Open with her first WTA title.

Mboko, 18 and playing in her first WTA final, denied Osaka her first tour-level title since the 2021 Australian Open, wearing down the Japanese star, 27, who has struggled to find consistency since returning from maternity leave early in 2024.

Mboko, who was ranked outside the top 300 to start the season and had climbed to 85th entering the week, is now projected to rise to 34th in the world.

Before an ecstatic centre-court crowd of 11,000, she converted eight of her nine break points, seizing her fourth win of the week over a Grand Slam winner.

She ousted former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the second round and toppled reigning French Open champion Coco Gauff in the fourth before saving a match point en route to a semifinal victory over former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.

“It feels unbelievable right now,’ Mboko said, adding that “words cannot really describe how the day went”