For the third time in her WTA career, Victoria Mboko reached a WTA Final on Friday. She made the final two of the Adelaide International, but lost to Russia’s Mirra Andreeva, 6-3, 6-1. Andreeva is the eighth ranked player in the world and made the final four of the 2024 French Open.
It was a very notable week for Mboko, the eighth seed. In the first round she defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, the 2023 French Open semifinalist, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. In the second round, Mboko beat Anna Kalinskaya of Russia, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6. In the quarterfinals, Mboko upset Madison Keys of the United States, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. In the semifinals, Mboko beat Kim Birrell of Australia, 6-2, 6-1.
Ir was Mboko’s quarterfinal win over Keys that was the most notable performance this week. Keys is the reigning Australian Open champion and was the second seed in Adelaide. A key statistic in the match was percentage of points won on her second serve. Mboko won 62% of the points and Keys won 48%.
Mboko is one of seven Canadian singles players who have qualified for the singles draw at the 2026 Australian Open in Melbourne. The other six are Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec, Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ontario, Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Denis Shapovalov of Toronto. Ontario, and Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ontario.
