Canadian Victoria Mboko wins the National Bank Open
We’ve got a name you’re going to want to commit to memory. Mboko. Victoria that is. This eighteen-year-old tennis phenom just won the National Bank Open in Montreal, taking down a slew of top ranked heavy hitters enroute, and winning over a nation to boot!
Into the tennis tournament ranked 85th in the world, Mboko who entered the tournament as a wild card, went on to defeat Sofia Kenin, Marie Bouzkova (#39), Coco Gauff (#2), Jessica Bouzas (#51), Elena Rybakina (#12), and ultimately Noami Osaka (#49) in the finals. Although she handled the talented Gauff quite easily in straight sets, her semi-final against Rybakina and her final against Osaka went to three sets, in both of which she lost the first set by a large margin.
Tennis is one of those sports where, unless doubles, start to finish, everything rests on one person’s shoulders. Unlike team sports where the outcomes are, well, based on team effort and the coach can constantly, well, coach throughout the game, tennis – like track and field and boxing – is a sport in which the buck stops with the athlete. This demands a heighted level of self-awareness, discipline, and focus, especially when a match or race does not start off on a winning trajectory. Our point is that at only eighteen-years-old, Mboko displayed not only strength, speed, and power, but focus, resilience, and discipline beyond her years.
Who is she? Mboko was born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2006 to proud Congolese parents, Godee (mom) and Cyprein (dad). The youngest of four children, the family eventually moved to Toronto and she and her siblings began training near Burlington, Ontario. Like many star athletes, the breakthrough moments on the world stage do not tell the whole story. A rising star in her early teens, her progress was slowed by knee injuries which convinced her of the importance of looking after her body. Mboko competed in her first grand slam, the French Open, in May 2025, making it through the qualifiers only to lose in the third round to Qinwen Zheng of China.
Let’s get real! We love seeing black athletes shine in the traditionally rarified and exclusive sports like golf and tennis; sports from which deserving black athletes have been shut out for decades due to the economic barriers of entry (country club anyone?), the racist segregation of the places of play, and the entrenched racism of the white coaches, trainers, and fans. So of course, it meant so much to witness the rise of superstars Venus and Serena Williams who – give it up – literally transformed the sport with their athleticism, speed, and power. That Gauff, Osaka, and Mboko, as well as all of the other non-black female tennis pros, owe the Williams sisters a huge debt of gratitude goes without saying. So here’s hoping that in talent and in character, these younger athletes will follow their brilliant examples.
With her impressive play in Montreal, Mboko won over the stadium crowds with her agility, speed, and grace. But she also won over an entire nation with her heart! Like Felix Auger-Aliassime, we think she’s got the talent, the guts, and the grit to go far. The sky is the limit. We’ll be watching and cheering!