Victoria Mboko had the home crowd in her pocket during the biggest win of her young career. The 18-year-old who jumps to World No. 55 in the live rankings defeated Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 in the National Bank Open Round of 16.
Victoria Mboko’s reaction after beating Coco Gauff in Montreal
She covers her face & her home crowd goes wild.
Great hug at the net
First top 10 win of her life
Biggest moment of her life
18 years old… the sky is the limit for this young lady 🇨🇦🥹
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 3, 2025
Mboko played Gauff before at the Italian Open and jumped out to a lead by winning the first set before Gauff rebounded and won the final two sets. In Montreal, Mboko won the first set again, and many expected Gauff to repeat what happened in Rome.
It was not to be. Mboko kept her nerve and displayed a characteristic atypical to young players, she did not go for too much. She played her game, and Gauff struggled mightily with her own serve and unforced errors.
Gauff has been squeaking by at the National Bank Open with many double faults in her previous two rounds: 23 against Danielle Collins and 14 against Veronika Kudermetova. The loss could give her time to work the serve on the practice courts before Cincinnati and the US Open.
Coco Gauff’s 23 double faults in Montreal were the fifth-highest tally ever recorded in a WTA match 👇#WTA #Tennis #NBO25 pic.twitter.com/jhLF77nq0m
— Tennis365 (@tennis365com) July 30, 2025
She is still in the tournament, playing doubles with McCartney Kessler. The two Americans have a quarterfinal match with Barbora Krejcikova and Jelena Ostapenko on Sunday. Krejcikova and Ostapenko defeated the top seeded Italian team of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.
Victoria Mboko Gave Coco A Taste Of Her Own Medicine
Gauff, 21, rarely plays someone younger than herself. She is also rarely not a fan favorite. Both of those conditions were in play as Mboko crafted smart points and used her feet to stay in rallies with Gauff.
Coco Gauff has expressed frustration with her serve which has been better in doubles. She wants to find the doubles serve for singles. Much like a golf swing, the mechanics of the serve involve the entire body, and whether it is the toss, the timing of her head and body movement, or something else, she knows she needs to fix it, or the summer in singles is going to be tough.
With Gauff’s exit, only two American women remain in contention: Madison Keys and Amanda Anisimova.
Mboko’s win continues a great run among Canadian women. Leylah Fernandez won last week’s Mubadala Citi Open, and Genie Bouchard, the Canadian pioneer, retired at this year’s National Bank Open.
