Felix Auger-Aliassime and Victoria Mboko began the season in sensational fashion as Canada defeated China in the opening round contest.
Auger-Aliassime defeated Zhang Zhizhen in straight sets, while Mboko recovered from losing the first set to beat Zhu Lin in the United Cup.
The pair combined to defeat You Xiaodi and Te Rigele to confirm the victory for Canada, who look like they could be a dark horse in the competition.
After making their doubles debut, Auger-Aliassime said his new partner made him excited for the 2028 Olympic games in Los Angeles.
Felix Auger-Aliassime is excited about the Olympics after Victoria Mboko doubles partnership
Auger-Aliassime and Mboko dropped just four games in their doubles match to confirm their second win of the day.
The partnership went so well that Auger-Aliassime even conjured up fantasies about the pair representing Canada at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
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“I thought it was great that we could share the court. I was even thinking during the doubles about the next Olympics ahead, thinking like this could be good,” he said in his United Cup press conference.
“If we’re both still playing good tennis and healthy, there’s a lot of things that can happen. I was really happy to see her breakthrough last year. It’s always good to have a strong male and female player on tour.
“You feel like you push each other to be good. There’s not only Vicki. Leylah [Fernandez] is still there. Bianca [Andreescu] is coming back. A lot of good players on both men and women.”
Mboko was equally as satisfied after combining with the world number five for the first time in her career.
What Victoria Mboko said about teaming with Felix Auger-Aliassime
Mboko is eight years younger than Auger-Aliassime, but the pair showed promise as a doubles partnership.
Speaking after the match, Mboko said: “The one thing I noticed is you’re playing with a guy on the other side, or having Felix serve, the points are a lot shorter.
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“I mean, it’s just a lot more quicker rallies. You kind of have to have fast hands. You don’t really see the ball as much as women’s tennis.
“Yeah, it was a pretty cool experience. To start the year off playing this kind of format that I’m not used to, it’s really stepping me out of my boundaries. I like it. I had a lot of fun today.”
Canada will play Belgium in their next match, which will pit Auger-Aliassime against Zizou Bergs and Mboko against Elise Mertens.
