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Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko pulled off the biggest win of her career on Saturday night, defeating world No. 2 and tournament favorite Coco Gauff 6-1 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Omnium Banque Nationale in Montreal.
The 18-year-old wildcard from Canada needed just over an hour to eliminate Gauff, who struggled with unforced errors throughout the match. Gauff, who won the French Open earlier this summer, has now lost three of her last five matches, with disappointing early exits in Berlin and Wimbledon preceding this tournament.
Though Gauff had cut down on her double faults compared to earlier in the week—where she totaled 37 across matches against Danielle Collins and Veronika Kudermetova—her second serve continued to let her down. She won less than half of her second-serve points against Mboko and couldn’t capitalize on five break chances. Mboko, by contrast, stayed composed under pressure, saving all five break points she faced and converting four of five opportunities on Gauff’s serve.
The victory marks a major milestone for Mboko, currently ranked No. 85, who began the season ranked outside the Top 300. Her live ranking now jumps to No. 53, with a quarterfinal win potentially boosting her as high as No. 24, according to the WTA.
The Montreal crowd erupted as Mboko dropped her racquet and covered her face in disbelief following the final point. Her run has already made history, as she’s the youngest Canadian woman to reach the quarterfinals at the event since Helen Kelesi in 1987 and only the second wildcard to beat a No. 1 seed at the tournament in the Open Era, following Stephanie Dubois’s win over Kim Clijsters in 2006.
Mboko also becomes the fifth-youngest player to defeat a top seed at a WTA 1000 event since the format was introduced in 2009. Only Gauff (Rome 2021), Mirra Andreeva (Indian Wells 2025), Belinda Bencic (Toronto 2015), and Chang Kai-Chen (Tokyo 2009) were younger.
Her breakout 2025 season began with 20 consecutive wins in smaller tournaments and four lower-level titles. In Rome, just her second WTA main-draw appearance, she pushed Gauff to three sets. Now, just months later, she’s beaten her on home soil.
Mboko’s quarterfinal opponent at the Omnium Banque Nationale will be Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
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