Victoria Mboko triumphed over fellow Canadian Leylah Fernandez in a thrilling three-set match to secure a place in the final of the Hong Kong Open tennis tournament. The semifinal saw Toronto’s Mboko edge past Laval, Quebec’s Fernandez with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, marking the first encounter between the two rising Canadian stars.
The 19-year-old Mboko will face Spain’s Cristina Bucsa in the final after Bucsa defeated fifth seed Maya Joint of Australia in straight sets. Earlier this year, Mboko and Bucsa met during the qualifying round of the Rome tournament, where Mboko emerged victorious with a score of 6-3, 6-2.
Mboko, seeded third in the tournament, reached her second WTA final this season after defeating the second-seeded Fernandez in a match that lasted one hour and 44 minutes. Despite a strong start from Fernandez, who won eight of the first nine games and recorded 10 winners in the first set, the momentum shifted after Fernandez took a medical timeout for thigh strapping while leading in the second set.
Following the timeout, Mboko found her rhythm, significantly improving her performance by making 34 of her 40 first serves and holding her serve throughout the remainder of the match. “I didn’t really have the best start,” Mboko reflected post-match. “But I gotta give credit to her — she was playing really great, aggressive tennis, which made it hard for me to find my rhythm.”
Mboko’s impressive comeback indicates her return to form after overcoming a wrist injury that had hampered her performance since winning her first WTA title at the National Bank Open in Montreal. Following that victory, she struggled with four consecutive losses before gaining momentum at the Pan Pacific Open, where she reached the quarterfinals after ending her losing streak against fellow Canadian Bianca Andreescu.
This achievement positions Mboko to debut in the world’s top 10 next week, a remarkable ascent from her starting rank of No. 333 at the beginning of the season. As Mboko prepares for the final, tennis enthusiasts are eager to see if she can clinch what could be a defining moment in her promising career.