Victoria Mboko introduced herself to the tennis world with a phenomenal debut year on the WTA Tour.
Mboko is an outside bet for a Grand Slam in 2026 after taking a giant leap with her tennis across the season.
The teenager won her maiden Masters title at the Canadian Open and followed it up with a victory at the Hong Kong Open.
The Canadian will end the year as the world number 18, and she’s just been rewarded with a remarkable non-tennis honour.
Victoria Mboko receives key to the city after excellent debut year
Mboko’s victory at her home tournament in Montreal was undoubtedly one of the moments of the year and she’s been honoured in Canada.
The star has been given the key to the city in her hometown of Burlington, Ontario, where her tennis journey started.
Accepting the award, Mboko said: “The community here is so welcoming and friendly. We have almost everything we need around here, and I have been and continue to be so blessed to live here and have the opportunities my family created for me.
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“It’s something I don’t take lightly and I’ve set out as a goal in the future for myself to help provide and create opportunities for others. To that extent, if I were to ever have one wish, it’d be to have more tennis courts here in Burlington.”
Mboko defeated four Grand Slam champions to become just the third Canadian to win her home Masters tournament.
The star ousted Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Naomi Osaka to lift the trophy and announce herself to the tennis world.
The other two female Canadians to have won their home tournament
Mboko followed in the footsteps of two other Canadians in the Open Era to win the iconic Masters tournament.
Faye Urban won an all-Canadian final to lift the trophy in just the second tournament of the Open Era after beating Vicki Berner in 1969.
Exactly 50 years later, Bianca Andreescu defeated Serena Williams to win the tournament in difficult circumstances after Williams was forced to retire in the first set.
Andreescu would continue her excellent form a month later by winning her only Grand Slam to date at the 2019 US Open.
It will surely only be a matter of time before Mboko follows in Andreescu’s footsteps and wins her first major tournament.
