Victoria Mboko reached the Qatar TotalEnergies Open final in Doha and secured a ranking of No. 10, according to Tennis Canada. The Burlington native's ascent marks a striking turnaround from a year ago, when she ranked outside the top 200.
How did Mboko reach the Doha final?
Mboko defeated world No. 7 Mirra Andreeva in the third round after saving match point while Andreeva served for the match in the deciding set, then won the decisive tiebreaker. She followed that victory by breaking Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina six times to advance to the quarterfinals, improving her head-to-head record against Rybakina to 2-2. Mboko then swept past Jelena Ostapenko in the semifinals to reach the title match.
Who stopped Mboko's run in the final?
World No. 11 Karolina Muchova defeated Mboko in the Doha final. Muchova captured her maiden WTA 1000 title in the match, according to Tennis Canada.
What happened to Leylah Fernandez?
Mboko withdrew from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships due to a right-elbow injury, leaving Leylah Fernandez as the only Canadian in the Dubai singles draw. Fernandez defeated No. 13 seed Liudmila Samsonova in a match lasting nearly three hours, forcing a comeback after dropping the first set and securing back-to-back breaks in the third set for a 5-0 lead.
Sources
- Tennis Canada: Monday Digest: Mboko Enters Top 10 in Solid Week for Canadians. Tennis Canada, date unknown.
Reported from public sources.