Victoria Mboko, a 19-year-old Canadian tennis player, was ranked No. 333 in the WTA Tour standings at the beginning of 2025. But as of Friday, she will compete in the third round of the French Open main draw, marking a remarkable rise in her career.
“I was very focused throughout the match,” Mboko said after defeating Germany’s No. 59-ranked Eva Lys 6-4, 6-4 in the second round. “She’s a solid player, especially from the baseline. She made me earn every point.”
Mboko started the French Open ranked No. 156 as of April 21, and she was unseeded. Yet, she powered through the qualifiers, winning all three of her matches in straight sets against Sinja Kraus, Kathinka Von Deichmann, and Kaja Juvan.
Her momentum continued with a strong first-round victory over New Zealand’s Lulu Sun, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year. She then claimed another straight-sets win against Lys, currently ranked No. 59.
Thanks to this victory, Mboko will break into the WTA top 100 after the French Open, with a current “live” ranking of No. 89. She will face No. 8 seed Zheng Qinwen in the third round on Friday.
Born in the United States and raised in Toronto, Mboko began the season on the ITF circuit, where she won 22 consecutive matches and four titles. Despite limited attention at the time, she was able to secure wild cards into prestigious WTA 1000 events, such as the Miami Open and the Italian Open.
In Miami, she pushed world No. 10 Paula Badosa to a third-set tiebreak, and in Rome, she gave world No. 2 Coco Gauff a tough three-set match. Gauff, impressed by Mboko’s performance, even remarked that she saw a reflection of herself in the young Canadian.
After a runner-up finish at a WTA 125 tournament in Parma, Italy, Mboko traveled to Paris, where she is now making waves in her first senior Grand Slam tournament.
Mboko had competed at Roland Garros as a junior, where she reached No. 4 in the world but also played through a knee injury. Now fully healthy, her performance in Paris is proving to be a breakout moment.
The once-unknown teen has quickly become a star, with every victory drawing more attention. Her family, including her father Cyprien, a retired engineer from the Democratic Republic of Congo, is supporting her in Paris. Cyprien played an active role in guiding all his children through the junior tennis circuit in Toronto.
After her win against Lys, Mboko faced a series of media interviews, including one-on-ones with European and American sports networks, the French sports newspaper L’Equipe, and a popular tennis podcast.
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