"Emergence of a new potential superstar" - Annabel Croft and Jonathan Overend delighted for Victoria Mboko after Canadian Open success

18-year-old Victoria Mboko produced one of the shocks of the year when she defeated Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to win the Canadian Open in front of a home crowd. With this success, she jumps from 85th in the world to an incredible 24th, which makes her a seed for the upcoming US Open.

On the way to the Masters 1000 title, she defeated former Grand Slam winners Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina in the semis. Despite going behind in the final, she kept her cool and produced a brilliant comeback, winning the final five games of the match.

Sky Sports commentator and former British tennis player Annabel Croft was full of praise for the young Canadian. She stated that Mboko will be a real threat in the US Open, and that she has 'earned the right to be talked about' following on from such an impressive tournament.

"I think she will be the talk of the US Open, for sure," Croft said after the final. "You always need those storylines going into a slam, and there's no way that she's not one of the stories. She's earned that right to be talked about, which in itself creates pressure on the opposition because you feel like she has an aura - and she does have an aura. It's exciting but equally it does also create pressure for her, which she'll have to handle and which will be new territory for her. But, no question, this is a springboard for her."

Over a month ago, Mboko failed to qualify for Wimbledon. Now she is a Masters 1000 champion. Croft saw her defeat at SW19 and revealed that she was impressed by her attitude and mentality on the day. "She had match points and she lost and I was just impressed with her whole attitude on the court," Croft said. "She played beautifully and was so unlucky not to win that match. I have been even more impressed with how she rebounded after such a painful defeat and got into Wimbledon as a lucky loser, which I was so thrilled to see and now look what she's doing so quickly."

Croft was also quick to shed light on her coach, Nathalie Tauziat, whom Croft has had previous experience. She revealed the creative methods of coaching Tauziat had used with Mboko, linking it to her success in Montreal.

"She's got a very good coach, who actually I was on the tour with, in Nathalie Tauziat," Croft said. "Mboko's very brave, smart and she backs herself. She goes for her shots, but I also read an article where she was talking about how Tauziat was a very creative artist, served and volleyed, had slices and did many different things.

"She said she was trying to equip her with other things like that which she might need to draw upon in matches. So you can hear by the way that she's talking, that she's very intelligent about the way she goes about her business and is not one-dimensional. She strikes me already, at such a young age, as being very astute and aware of what might be required."

Sky Sports Tennis commentator Jonathan Overend was also in complete awe of Mboko's title run, labelling it as a great story that she won her first event on home soil despite being a wildcard entry. He also described the young Canadian as a 'new potential superstar' and described her final performance as 'exciting'.

"What a story, something that has really captured the imagination of the world outside of tennis, with the emergence of a new potential superstar," Overend said. "This is an 18-year-old wild card who has just won a top-tier tournament, at home in Canada, and by beating a four-time Grand Slam champion in the final. Such an exciting performance."

"She came back from a set down three times over the course of the event and in both of the last two rounds. She also beat four Grand Slam champions in total across the draw - Osaka, Rybakina, Gauff and Kenin. These things do not happen every day, so let's revel in it. What an achievement! She's got patience, she's got resilience, she is so good off both wings and moves so impressively. And she is so mature."

Mboko will likely skip the 1000 event in Cincinnati due to her swollen wrist, but has her eyes peeled on the US Open, where she will be looking to carry on this fairytale story.