Victoria Mboko stunned French Open champion Coco Gauff on Saturday evening at the Canadian Open.
The 18-year-old star took just 62 minutes to dispatch Gauff in the Canadian Open round of 16, winning 6-1 6-4 against the American number one seed.
The young Canadian had impressed on her way to the round of 16, defeating former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin on her way to the round of 16. However, few could have expected the near-demolition job Mboko delivered.
The Canadian registered another excellent serving performance, winning a remarkable 81 per cent of her second serve points during the victory.
Back in April, Mboko and Gauff met for the first time at the Italian Open. In the round of 64, Mboko pushed Gauff to three sets.
After the match, Gauff had some particularly high praise for the 18-year-old Canadian.
Coco Gauff said Victoria Mboko is one of the best athletes on the WTA Tour
Victoria Mboko certainly set the tennis world alight with her performance on Saturday evening.
However, it was a different story in April when Gauff defeated Mboko 3-6 6-2 6-1 in the Italian Open round of 64.
Gauff, who also made her name in the sport at a young age, was quick to dampen any comparisons between herself and Mboko. However, she did point to one area of the Canadian’s game which caught her eye.
Gauff claimed Mboko is ‘one of the best on tour’ in this area.
As per the Roland Garros website, Gauff said: “I felt like playing myself because I feel like I move pretty well, she moves very well … As far as the other parts of her game, she’s obviously a big hitter, can play well, moves pretty well, has a nice backhand, same on the forehand.”
“I don’t want to say she plays like me ’cause she obviously doesn’t. We’re like closer in age.
“I would say on the movement side athletically she’s one of the best athletes on tour.”
Mboko ‘grateful’ to have played Coco Gauff
After winning her second round of qualifying at the French Open, Mboko took time to reflect on the comments made by Gauff just a few weeks earlier.
Despite losing at the Italian Open, Mboko took great comfort in the comments Coco Gauff made about her game.
Mboko said: “It’s obviously a really great compliment especially coming from her, because, honestly, I felt during the match she was a lot better of an athlete than I was, and it kind of made me feel a little bit insecure on court.
“I mean, to have gone three sets with her, to kind of shake things up in the match, I think was a little bit better confidence for me, seeing what I can do and what I need to improve on at the end of the day so I’m really grateful to have played her and I gained a lot of experience from that match.”
