Aryna Sabalenka had nothing but positive things to say about Victoria Mboko, straight after beating her at Indian Wells.
After all, despite the straight-sets scoreline, it was still a hugely competitive match, with the Canadian sensation bringing about five break points, just three fewer than her opponent managed.
Her inability to convert them proved costly and condemned her to a second-straight defeat to Aryna Sabalenka in the last few months.
Asked about the difference between Victoria Mboko from their Australian Open meeting to now, Sabalenka made a bold claim about what the future holds for the 19-year-old superstar.
Aryna Sabalenka explains why Victoria Mboko can be a Grand Slam champion
She first pointed out the changes she noticed in Mboko’s game since their last meeting in January.
Sabalenka admitted: “Yeah, definitely. Big improvement. I think she was serving much better than she did in that match in Australia. Definitely built more confidence and was playing more brave. I think that’s why the scoreboard was a bit closer than in Australia. Definitely I see the big progress.”
Who is your money on?
And, having branded Mboko as a ‘future Grand Slam champion’ in her on-court interview, the Belarusian expanded on this in her press conference.
She added: “I think all of those young kids who’s on tour right now, they all have a huge potential to be Grand Slam champions.
“I just see how aggressive she is, how passionate she is, how much she’s fighting on court and never giving up. I see this as a future Grand Slam champion, for sure.”
Sabalenka admitted she loved Mboko’s game before the match, but this remains her greatest endorsement yet.
Victoria Mboko’s rapid rise up the world rankings
Given this was her first-ever appearance at Indian Wells, Mboko had no ranking points to defend. This is a trend she’s likely to face throughout the entire season.
As such, her rapid rise up the rankings over the last year could yet reach even greater heights as we close in on the WTA 1000 event in Canada that truly changed everything for her.
Who has impressed you the most?
At the start of last year, Mboko sat just outside the top 300 in the world rankings. That had started to improve before her title in Canada.
After all, she had cracked the top 200 by March and the top 100 by June.
Her trajectory was impressively upward, but few could have predicted that this teenager would have built on such a fine end to the year to now be a top-10 player.
Following Indian Wells, she is set to enjoy a new career-high ranking of ninth. Not bad considering she was around 162nd in the world this time last year.
