“I don't feel fresh": Victoria Mboko leaves Cincinnati Open spot in question

Victoria Mboko is putting her participation in the upcoming Cincinnati Open in doubt after becoming the standout star of the Canadian Open in Montreal. The 18-year-old star secured a victory against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the quarterfinals and will now face Elena Rybakina in the semifinals.

The Canadian had been taking her first steps on the WTA Tour in recent months. She started the year at world No. 333 and opened the season with a 22-match winning streak, capturing up to five consecutive ITF titles, the first four without dropping a set. By the beginning of May, her season record was an incredible 33-3, which brought her into the top 150.

She got her first WTA Tour-level victory against Camila Osorio in the first round of the Miami Open back in March, but she fell to Paula Badosa in a third-set tie-break. In the middle of the match, a frustrated Badosa stated on court, "I do not know what I need to do, she plays better than Aryna Sabalenka."

Badosa's words seemed anecdotal at the time, but Mboko has quickly made the leap to maintain consistency with her game. In the last week, she has beaten rivals like Sofia Kenin and Marie Bouzkova before getting the best win of her career against the world No. 2 (and first seed) Coco Gauff with a convincing 6-1, 6-4 score.

"Of course, the match the other day against Coco was a very special experience; I was very happy to have won that day. I don't know, at the end of the day, I was still in the tournament, so I couldn't really celebrate much or anything. I was still locked into that environment of continuing to stay alive in the tournament, something I usually do. If you play a tournament, it's because you want to win it, so I always like to have that kind of mentality; that's all."

The Canadian has now reached her first WTA 1000 semifinals, and what better place to do it than as a local in Montreal. "First of all, I feel very happy right now. Achieving a milestone like this in a tournament like this is truly significant for me, and I couldn't be happier to have experienced this journey here in Montreal. Overall, I don't have many words to say, but I can assure you that I am immensely happy."

Mboko has already secured an even bigger jump in the rankings and is now at No. 48 in the live rankings. She will have the opportunity to seek her first WTA tournament final when she faces the Kazakh Elena Rybakina this Wednesday. "I played against her in Washington less than two weeks ago, so I don't expect an easy match at all. I've faced her, I know what to expect. Maybe I just need to raise my game a bit and stay with her on the court. She is a player with very good groundstrokes, in addition to a tremendous serve. That day, I will have to do everything possible to stay in the fight."

On the other hand, the teenager admitted that she still doesn't know if she will compete in the Cincinnati Open next week or if she will take a rest after a busy week in which she will be playing her sixth match in just nine days. "Right now, I don't feel fresh, but I don't feel too tired either. I think having the day off between matches is a big help; this intermediate day helps us regroup and recharge. It's also true that every day I've been doing what I needed to recover well. Most of my matches have been at night, so afterward, I have a lot of time during the day to take a nap or do anything else I need to arrive prepared at night. Yes, I feel pretty good right now."