In tennis, 18-year-old Canadian wild card Victoria Mboko stunned four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to capture her first WTA 1000 title on home soil at the Canadian Open.
After losing the first set in the championship clash, Mboko showcased remarkable resilience, breaking in the opening game of the second set, a shift that unsettled Osaka despite her two break-backs in the frame.
The win lifts Mboko to a career-high No. 25 in the WTA rankings, ensuring her first Grand Slam seeding at the upcoming US Open. She is now the second Canadian since Bianca Andreescu in 2019 to reach the semifinals, final, and win the Canadian Open, and the second-lowest-ranked player ever to win a WTA 1000 title since the format began in 1990.
Remarkably, Mboko becomes only the second player since 2009 to claim her maiden title at a WTA 1000 event, and the second wild card champion at the National Bank Open after Monica Seles in 1995.
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