Victoria Mboko of Burlington, Ontario has reached a place she has never gone before. That is the fourth round of a grand slam. On Friday in Melbourne, Australia, Mboko beat Clara Tauson of Denmark 7-6, 5-7, 6-3 in the third round of the women’s singles draw of the 2026 Australian Open.
Mboko, who is the 17th seed, delivered a minor upset when it came to the rankings. That is because Tauson is ranked 14th in the world. However, Mboko was the betting favourite at -210, compared to Tauson at +160.
This was actually a very even match. Mboko won 101 points and Tauson won 100 points.
Next up for Mboko is Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, the number one women’s player in the world right now. Sabalenka is a four-time grand slam women’s singles champion. She won the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024, and the United States Open in 2024 and 2025.
Sabalenka has now been ranked first in the world now for 74 weeks. She was initially ranked first for eight weeks from September 11, 2023 to November 5, 2023. Sabalenka has since been ranked first for 66 weeks since October 21, 2024.
This will be the first time ever that Mboko has played Sabalenka. Mboko is in women’s doubles of the Australian Open too. She has teamed up with American Iva Jovic. In the first round, Mboko and Jovic beat Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway and Ingrid Neel of Estonia, 7-5, 6-3.
