Canada’s Victoria Mboko will play for the title at the Qatar Open and will be assured of a Top 10 position when the WTA standings are updated on Monday.
The 19-year-old from Toronto advanced to the final on Friday, beating Latvian Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 in their semi-final. Mboko, the tournament’s 10th seed, converted five of nine break point chances against Ostapenko, who broke twice in four chances.
On Thursday, Mboko recorded six service breaks in her 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 defeat by second-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, the 2026 Australian Open champion. She reached the quarterfinals by beating fifth seed Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) on Wednesday.
“It’s a bit crazy”, Mboko said after her semifinal victory, according to the WTA Tour. “I never expected anything to happen for me so quickly. I just take it day by day, tournament by tournament. Every tournament I participate in, I want to do well. I don’t expect so much from myself. It’s not like when I participate in a tournament I’m going to say I’m going to win it, but you always want to do your best.
“I think this came relatively quickly, but it’s a nice feeling. It’s nice to see that, to have that milestone, to see that number. So yeah, I’m pretty happy about that.”
Mboko finished Friday’s match with six aces and four double faults. Ostapenko, number 24 in the world, did not record an ace and had one double fault.
The Canadian will face the Czech Karolina Muchova, the fourteenth seed, in the final.
With this point, Mboko becomes the fourth Canadian woman to make the WTA Top 10 in singles, joining Carling Bassett-Seguso, Eugenie Bouchard and Bianca Andreescu.
Mboko was outside the top 300 early last season. She went on a major winning run below tour level before capturing the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers title in Montreal last August.
In doubles, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and fifth seed Luisa Stefani of Brazil fell 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals to fourth seed Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic.
– with files from Sportsnet Staff
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