Victoria Mboko brought the tennis world to its knees on Saturday night after defeating world number two Coco Gauff in convincing fashion.
The 18-year-old starlet has burst onto the WTA Tour in 2025 after picking up multiple victories at Grand Slam events, specifically the French Open and Wimbledon.
However, the Canadian announced herself to the wider public with victory over Gauff, defeating the current French Open champion in 62 minutes.
Young players can often suffer with the pressure and weight of expectation that is often placed upon them. However, Mboko showed little sign of duress during her astounding victory.
Lindsay Davenport, who won the 1999 Wimbledon Ladies Singles title, discussed the rise of Mboko on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast, pinpointing the only ‘problem’ she had with Mboko before her performance against Gauff.
Lindsay Davenport was not sure how Victoria Mboko would handle the pressure
On the Tennis Channel Live Podcast, Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport was told that Mboko’s record in 2025, across all formats, is now 50 wins to nine losses.
This is a remarkable feat on any level and it is typified by Mboko’s 22-match win streak at the start of the year, which saw her win four straight ITF titles.
Mboko has gone from strength to strength on the WTA Tour, and Davenport is impressed.
Davenport said: “Yeah I think the 50 wins is exactly right.
“When you’re winning matches on a consistent basis week after week and it doesn’t matter what level, you kind of have that confidence you kind of have that wherewithal… how do I want to play this humongous point coming up?
“And she just never looked flustered out there. That is really hard to do at 18. Given the court, given all the fans, given the TV exposure, I mean she handled it like a superstar. Probably an amazing sign of things to come for her.”
Davenport later added: Everyone started talking about her earlier this year, as you mentioned, in the middle of that 24 match win, so everyone in the sport was kind of keeping an eye on her. Every time she was on we’d have her on the monitor. I mean you can’t deny how good she is at such a young age.
“But the problem that we have is we can never predict what’s between the ears and how does someone handle that pressure? How does someone perform with that kind of stress on them?
“I mean last night was such a great indicator, to watch her play, to watch her build points. Also taking on one of the players that figures things out when they’re not playing well, such as Gauff does time after time. None of that bothered Mboko.”
Mboko is the youngest Canadian Open quarter-finalist since Coco Gauff
Ironically, Mboko’s victory over Gauff saw her rival an achievement recorded by the American in 2022.
As per OptaAce, Victoria Mboko is now the youngest quarter-finalist at the Canadian Open since Coco Gauff in 2022.
In 2022, 10th-seed Gauff defeated Madison Brengle, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka at the Canadian Open, before losing to Simona Halep.
Mboko could create more history on Monday evening if she defeats fellow unseeded player Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. The Spaniard defeated China’s Zhu Lin in the previous round.
