“I’m going to show up with how I play, and I just hope for the best”: Victoria Mboko unfazed by Coco Gauff ahead of Canadian Open fourth-round clash

Canada’s young tennis sensation Victoria Mboko has shared her plans ahead of the clash against America’s Coco Gauff at the Canadian Open. The 18-year-old has proven to be a real showstopper in the ongoing WTA 1000 event in Montreal.

She started the tournament with a straight-set win over Australia’s Kimberly Birrell with a score of 7-5, 6-3. In the second round, Mboko got the better of the former Australian Open winner, America’s Sofia Kenin, in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-3. Her most recent win came against the Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova, where she emerged victorious with a score of 1-6, 6-3, 6-0.

That win has set up a mouthwatering contest for Mboko against the top-seeded Gauff, who secured her spot in the round of 16 after beating Veronika Kudermetova with a score of 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. This will be only the second meeting between the players. In the only previous meeting, which took place in the round of 64 of the Rome Masters, it was Gauff who came out on top with a score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Talking ahead of the encounter, Mboko stated that she is looking to approach the match just like she would have approached any other opponent. Mboko also stated that she is going to focus on how she would play and hopes that her quality on the court will be enough to challenge a player of Gauff’s stature.

“The surface is different,” said Mboko. “But I mean, it’s not like you change the way you play just because of the surface. I mean, I’m going to kind of go into the match how I usually go into every other match despite the surface. I’m going to show up with how I play, and I just hope for the best. I’m really excited for it. She’s the No. 1 seed of this tournament. I mean, I’ve played her before, and I know what I’m going to expect. I’m going to really expect a hard fight. It’s always great to play such incredible athletes and incredible players like her. I think it’s just going to be a really fun experience again, yeah.”

Mboko will be hoping that it is a right to face an opponent like Gauff who is going through an interesting phase in her career. Even though she has lifted a Grand Slam this year in Paris, her recent performances have remained far from perfect. In the first two matches of the competition, Gauff committed 37 double faults, which is the most by a player in the tournament. Gauff also spoke to the media ahead of the match and admitted that she is ‘very disappointed’ with the way she is committing double faults. Gauff also went on to state that she is working hard to reduce those double faults significantly in the near future.

"Obviously, I'm very disappointed with myself regarding that part of the game just because I didn't play in Washington to work on it, make changes, and do well in training, where I was serving very well, so I would like that to transfer to the match,” said Gauff. “The positive is that I'm winning these matches literally having a part of my game on crutches. It's as if I could lean on both feet, then I can only imagine it would be much easier and much simpler for me. There are two things I can take from it. I don't want to lead that statistic, and I want to improve. I know I'll probably never be free of double faults, but if I could reduce it to 2% or 3%, that would make a big difference and would make these matches much easier. The fact that I'm winning matches and finding ways to win with that is undoubtedly a positive thing."