“It’s really important that she keeps her circle tight”: Bianca Andreescu gives advice to Victoria Mboko following her Canadian Open title

Bianca Andreescu reacted to Victoria Mboko's title win at the Canadian Open after the teenager became the second local player to be crowned champion of the WTA 1000 tournament. Just as Andreescu did six years ago, Mboko—at just 18 years old—took home the trophy in Montreal.

Six years ago, it was another Canadian who was making headlines at the tournament. Andreescu, then just 19, won the title against Serena Williams in the final after the 23-time Grand Slam champion retired when the score was 3-1 in favor of the Canadian. That win gave Andreescu her second WTA 1000 title, having won at Indian Wells earlier that same year against Angelique Kerber.

The Canadian Open had only had one local champion in its history, Andreescu in 2019. This time, Canadians have Mboko, an 18-year-old teenager who had an unexpected journey in the tournament, eliminating rivals like Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina on her way to the final, where she defeated Naomi Osaka to win her first WTA title.

Following Mboko's incredible campaign, the 18-year-old has become the new star of the Tour. She advanced to world No. 24 and is preparing to be a seeded player at the US Open after climbing more than 60 positions in the rankings. Mboko decided to skip the Cincinnati Open to arrive at Flushing Meadows in the best possible shape.

During a recent interview with CBC News, Andreescu reacted to Mboko's success in Canada and offered her some advice after winning the most important title of her career. "I can only speak from experience. For me, I think what’s super important is to enjoy the moment fully. You know, celebrate with your family, your friends, for as long as you can," Andreescu said. "But with tennis, you know, there’s a tournament every week, so that can always be difficult, but, you know, really savor it. But then, you know, it’s back to the drawing board."

"I’m sure she wants to achieve much more than just this tournament, which is obviously a great achievement, but you want to keep that momentum going," the former world No. 4 added. "So focusing on the process rather than the results I think is super important because once you get a taste of it, you just keep wanting that.”

“So it can be kind of a distraction of like you know, okay, I need to realize how to get there again because being consistent with it can always be a struggle,” the 2019 US Open champino added. “And then just surround yourself with people that truly care about you. With all the attention and media and whoever, you know, there could be people that want to work with her or you or just random people that want to be her friend. But I think it’s really important that she keeps her circle tight and really trust her intuition on who to keep in her circle."

Andreescu had an unfortunate run in Montreal, where she suffered an ankle injury during her first-round match against Barbora Krejčíková, twisting her ankle precisely when she had a match point in her favor. The match was interrupted for several minutes, but Andreescu finally returned to play, limping.

After a deuce at 5-4 in the second set, she managed to finish the match after two unforced errors from her opponent, two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejčíková. Andreescu advanced to the second round but later had to withdraw before facing Mirra Andreeva, as the injury prevented her from stepping onto the court.

Andreescu was not only unable to continue in Montreal, but she also withdrew from the Cincinnati Open, hoping to recover. "Yeah, for me I’m just rehabbing as much as I can," she said. "Obviously, it was really unfortunate what happened, but yeah, it’s just taking it day by day and I’m hoping that the US Open is a go for me," commented Andreescu, who is signed up to play in the qualifying rounds at Flushing Meadows.