Victoria Mboko has been backed to top the WTA rankings and overtake Aryna Sabalenka in the future.
Mboko is still just 19 years old and was ranked outside the top 300 at the start of the 2025 season.
The Canadian has been on some trajectory since then, which was taken to another level when Mboko won her first WTA 1000 title in Montreal last year.
Mboko is now at her career-high ranking of world number nine after her breakout year on the WTA Tour, and she has been backed to go all the way.
Jimmy Arias backs ‘special’ Victoria Mboko to become world number one
Sabalenka has been world number one since October 2024, with the Belarusian topping the rankings for 85 consecutive weeks, and has done for 93 weeks in total across her two spells.
When discussing who could dethrone Sabalenka on Tennis Channel, Chanda Rubin backed Coco Gauff, Alison Riske-Amritraj went with Elena Rybakina, while Jimmy Arias chose Mboko after training with her when she was a child.
“Well if you look at the numbers, obviously Rybakina is the closest to catching her. I’m going to look a little more long-term and I’d love to say Coco Gauff,” said Rubin.
“You know, she has got to two in the world, she’s right there, she’s got some runway obviously not defending her Roland Garros title. Sometimes that is kind of weight taken off a player’s shoulders a little bit, and we’ve seen in Gauff where she can relax and then play better even tennis in the second half of the season.
“She didn’t do particularly well on the grass, maybe that’s an opening for her and then the hard court swing in the fall, that’s always where she shines and if it’s not this year, which it can’t be, I do think in the next couple of years I would love to see Coco kind of find something during a real stretch of time and get that one spot and get to that number one.”
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Riske-Amritraj followed with, “It’s going to be a real tough order, I think it’s going to be a really tough thing, she has cemented herself in that spot, but if I am going to go with someone it’s going to be Rybakina.
“I say that purely because I think she has the game to be kind of the type of player that Sabalenka is that is dominating a lot of player ranked lower and I also think if it is going to happen, she had the opportunity here at Roland Garros if she won it and if Sabalenka lost early in the tournament, which we knew that was a tough ask, but if it is going to happen anywhere I would say Wimbledon. That’s a place where Rybakina has had success in the past, obviously a winner there, and Sabalenka actually has never gotten past the semifinals there.
“So I think from that perspective, she has to lose early in the tournament and Rybakina would have to win it, but stranger things have happened. From the actual standpoint of being close in the race, Rybakina is really tight to Sabalenka!”
Arias added, “Obviously, we are all saying first Rybakina. We are mentioning Rybakina because she actually has the chance to pass her, she didn’t do well at Wimbledon last year, she won the tour-finals at the end of the year and she won the Australian Open, so for at least a few months she was number one in the world. Can she catch her? Probably not, but it’s possible, so that’s the first name that you would mention.
“I am going to go a little bit longer term, because I do think Sabalenka is going to stay number one for quite some time, so I am picking a youngster in Vicky Mboko. Simply because she took money off me when she was about 12, 13 years old and she came to IMG Academy and I said ‘Look I’m going to hit with you and if you make 100 in a row against me, I will give you 20 bucks!’.
“When she got to 90 I started to get a little tight, so I started to say things like this is when Canadians tend to choke while we’re hitting a spinner, fast, slice, kept talking all 10 of those last shots, she made it to 100, never showed any emotion, walked up and goes ‘Give me my money’ and as soon as she did that I said this girl is going to be special! She already is special, but I do think eventually she is going to get there.”
Who has impressed you the most?
What is the current top 10 in the race to the WTA Finals in 2026?
Sabalenka is the world number one by 947 points over Rybakina right now, with Iga Swiatek trailing by 2,357 points as the current world number three.
However, the situation looks different in the race to the WTA Finals, which only tracks points players have earned in 2026.
Sabalenka also leads the race to the WTA Finals, but her lead over Rybakina is even smaller from the first five months of this year, while Swiatek is down in 11th.
The Belarusian may not even be top of the race after Roland Garros, where Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat to Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals.
Mirra Andreeva could be the player to achieve this, as she could surpass Sabalenka’s total from this year if she wins her first Grand Slam at Roland Garros.
| Race to the WTA Finals 2026 | Points earned in 2026 | Maximum race points after Roland Garros |
| 1. Aryna Sabalenka | 4,510 | 4,510 |
| 2. Elena Rybakina | 4,388 | 4,388 |
| 3. Elina Svitolina | 3,890 | 3,890 |
| 4. Mirra Andreeva | 3,708 | 4,928 |
| 5. Jessica Pegula | 3,195 | 3,195 |
| 6. Coco Gauff | 2,703 | 2,703 |
| 7. Marta Kostyuk | 2,495 | 3,715 |
| 8. Karolina Muchova | 2,410 | 2,410 |
| 9. Victoria Mboko | 2,392 | 2,392 |
| 10. Sorana Cirstea | 1,855 | 1,855 |
Mboko is equal to her current ranking in the race, but is just 18 points behind eighth-placed Karolina Muchova.
The Canadian will look to continue rising up the rankings during the grass court season, where Mboko will partner Serena Williams in doubles at the Queen’s Club Championships.
