Teenage tennis sensation Victoria Mboko continued her remarkable run at the Canadian Open with a dominant victory over Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro to secure her place in the semi-finals.
The 18-year-old Canadian, who shocked two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round, once again impressed the home crowd in Montreal with a confident 6-4 6-2 win.
Mboko will now face ninth seed and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in what will be her first WTA 1000-level semi-final.
“I’m so excited to be in the semi-final here,” said Mboko, who is currently ranked 85th in the world. “My first time playing in Montreal has been an unreal experience and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Starting the year ranked 333rd, Mboko is set to break into the world’s top 50 when the rankings are updated next week. She began her season with a 22-match winning streak on the ITF Tour, capturing five titles before making her WTA debut in March.
She made headlines at Roland Garros in her first Grand Slam appearance, reaching the third round, and followed that performance by defeating 25th seed Magdalena Frech in the opening round at Wimbledon.
Mboko is the first Canadian woman to reach the semi-finals of the tournament since Bianca Andreescu lifted the trophy in 2019. She is also the youngest woman to reach the last four in Montreal since Belinda Bencic in 2015.
Rybakina progressed to the semi-finals after Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk was forced to retire due to a wrist injury while trailing 6-1 2-1. The Kazakh had previously defeated Mboko in the second round of last month’s Washington Open.