"It just proves that the trophy is there for everyone" - Victoria Mboko cites previous US Open underdog stories as she targets history of her own

It has been an incredible rise from 18-year-old talent Victoria Mboko, who marked a breakthrough campaign with a shock victory at the Canadian Open, defeating former Grand Slam champions on the way. She is now seeking to win one of her own, with the US Open underway at Flushing Meadows.

The Canadian first put herself on the map at Roland Garros, where she entered the competition as a lucky loser. It was a memorable run in Paris, which culmunated in a third round defeat to Olympic champion Zheng Qiwen. Despite losing a round earlier at Wimbledon, she defeated the 25 seed Magdalena Frech, before falling to the hands of Hailey Baptiste.

She made headlines in Montreal, bypassing the likes of Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina before facing off against four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka. Despite losing the first set, she waltzed to victory in front of her home crowd to win her first WTA tour title. Now up to 24th in the world, she is one of the players to watch out for in the US Open.

Flushing Meadows has produced some memorable headlines in the past. Back in 2019, fellow Canadian Bianna Andreescu defeated 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams to clinch the title in 2021. Two years later, Emma Raducanu backed her impressive Wimbledon debut by not only qualifying for the event, but going all the way to win the title, all without dropping a set. She was ranked 150th in the world before a ball was hit.

Mboko will be hoping to emulate these two incredible runs and use them as inspiration ahead of her US Open campaign. "They were both kind of the underdogs coming into the Grand Slam, so it just proves that the trophy is there for everyone and that you can do anything," Mboko said. "I mean, especially watching Bianca, in Canada it was huge. I was really happy for her. I just feel really happy to be here."

It has been an incredible rise for Mboko. She was ranked 333rd at the start of the year. Since then, she has won three Grand Slam matches in her first two events, a Masters 1000 title, and climbed up the rankings all the way to 24th in the world. With the closing Grand Slam of the year up and running, Mboko will look to climb a few more places up the ladder. She has a great opportunity as compared to players around her; she is defending no points due to her not participating in last year's event.

When asked about her rise, Mboko said: "Everything has happened super quickly. After Montreal, I did a lot of talks and a lot of interviews, and that's something that I'm not really used to as much as before, at least. I enjoy doing it. I love talking to new people and having new experiences. That's just a part of the game and the journey. Looking back at it, it was really cool to experience what I got to do, and then again, it's in the past. So I'm able to look back at it and kind of smile a bit, but there are so many more things to come in the future that I really look forward to. So I'm happy."

She tactically skipped the Cincinnati Open after her triumph in Montreal, fresh and prepared for her tricky first-round tie against two-time singles Grand Slam winner Barbora Krejcikova tomorrow at Louis Armstrong Stadium. If all goes to script, she could face off against fellow 18-year-old Russian superstar Mirra Andreeva in the fourth round.