Nineteen-year-old Congolese-Canadian tennis player Victoria Mboko has climbed into the WTA top 10 following a remarkable ascent from outside the top 300 at the start of 2025. Her breakthrough came with a runner-up finish at the 2026 Qatar Open, where she defeated top players including Elena Rybakina and Jelena Ostapenko. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has praised Mboko's athleticism and potential ahead of her Indian Wells debut.
Victoria Mboko's rapid progression in women's tennis has captured attention, marked by key victories and consistent performances over the past year. At the beginning of 2025, the 19-year-old was ranked No. 333. She won four consecutive ITF Circuit singles titles from January to February 2025, going 22 matches without dropping a set.
Her major breakthrough occurred at the National Bank Open in Montreal in August 2025. Entering as a wildcard, Mboko defeated Coco Gauff in the fourth round, Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(4)—saving a match point despite a wrist injury—and Naomi Osaka in the final. This made her the first Canadian woman to win the Montreal title and the second wildcard ever to claim the WTA 1000 event, propelling her from No. 85 to No. 24.
At Roland Garros in 2025, Mboko reached the third round after three qualifying wins, pushing Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen before exiting. She secured her second WTA title at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open in November 2025, overcoming Cristina Bucșa 7-5, 6-7(9), 6-2 in the longest tour-level final of the year, serving nine aces.
In 2026, Mboko reached the final of the Adelaide International WTA 500, losing to Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 6-4. At the Australian Open, she advanced to the Round of 16 while managing an injury that left her strapped up. Her top-10 entry was sealed at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha, where she beat Rybakina in the quarter-finals and Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-finals, before falling to Karolina Muchova in the final.
Martina Navratilova, an 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, commented on Mboko's rise: “Her rise has been very meteoric, just crazy. She’s a great athlete and she doesn’t have many weaknesses. Solid on both wings, moves well... She’s a competitor... She’s just getting started.” Mboko enters Indian Wells as the 10th seed, receiving a first-round bye and partnering Mirra Andreeva in doubles.
