Things gone from bad to worse for Victoria Mboko after Japan Open first-round exit

Canada’s young tennis sensation, Victoria Mboko, is now a known name in the world of tennis. She became a household name in her country after winning a WTA 1000 event in Canada earlier this year. The 18-year-old lifted the Canadian Open after beating the former world number one, Japan’s Naomi Osaka, in the final with a score of 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.

On her way to the title, Mboko defeated four Grand Slam winners, including Osaka. In the round of 64, Mboko defeated former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-3. In the round of 16, Mboko got the better of the reigning French Open champion and top-seed America’s Coco Gauff in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-4.

In the semifinals, Mboko came back from a set down and saved match points before eventually coming out on top against former Wimbledon champion Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina with a score of 1-6, 7-6, 7-5. Since then, however, things have been far from perfect for her.

Ever since lifting the title, Mboko has lost four straight matches, failing to win a single set. Her first defeat after winning the Canadian Open came while playing at the US Open where she came second-best against Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic with a score of 6-3, 6-2.

Soon after, she was knocked out of the China Open after losing to Anastasia Potapova of Russia with a score of 7-6, 7-5. Mboko then featured at the Wuhan Open, where she once again lost to another Russian player, Ekaterina Alexandrova, with a score of 6-3, 6-2. Her most recent appearance was at the ongoing Ningbo Open, where she once again suffered a defeat in the first round to Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska with a score of 6-3, 7-6.

It is not clear what is the reason behind Mboko’s poor form after securing such a big win. Earlier, ex-coach of the former world number one Renne Stubbs, asked fans to support the youngster who is still very early in her career and has a long way to go before becoming a established player at the highest level.

“Give her some grace,” said Stubbs in her podcast. “She is 18 – just like Andreeva – just like all these young players. She is not going to light the world on fire every week, so make sure we support them through that and she is only going to get better. I could say my life has changed quite a bit. I'd say I get recognized a lot more in public than I normally do. And every time I do get recognized, it comes a bit of a surprise to me. I get kind of that feeling like, oh, how do you know me?”

Talking about how the night went when she lifted her first WTA 1000 title, Mboko stated that she is ‘super happy’ to lift the title. Mboko also went on to explain that she is now looking forward to taking some rest and not participating in the Cincinnati Open to recover from a wrist injury completely.

“Well, I mean, it was a very eventful night, to be honest,” said Mboko. “I feel super happy that I came out with the victory, especially in my home country. It’s funny, I don’t have many words to say because there are so many emotions going through me right now -- there’s just so much happening. I’m just enjoying the moment for now, and maybe when it wears off I’ll realize what just happened. I don’t have time to really look at the rankings. But that obviously puts a lot of things into perspective. I would never have thought I’d be in the 20s this year, to be honest. That’s a huge milestone for me. Then again, I still don’t like to put huge goals on myself because I don’t know what’s going to happen.I will not be playing Cincinnati. I’ll just go home [to Toronto] and rest up a little bit. I’m going to take care of my wrist. Just do some prevention and recovery and prepare for what’s to come.”