"Why couldn't she win the US Open?" - Mats Wilander states Victoria Mboko is a 'breath of fresh air' for the sport, backs her to challenge for US Open success

A shock winner was announced in Montreal, with home-favourite Victoria Mboko storming to the title to win the Canadian Open. The 18-year-old became one of the youngest Masters 1000 winners in history, and with the US Open starting in a few days, seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander has stated that she could win the whole thing.

Mboko has enjoyed a phenomenal breakthrough campaign. In her first Grand Slam, she made it to the third round at Roland Garros, losing out to the number eight seed Zheng Qinwen. After failing to qualify for Wimbledon, she was entered into the competition as a lucky loser and made the most of it by defeating Magdalena Frech in the opening round before Hailey Baptiste sent her home.

After losing out in the round of 16 in Washington, she would go to Montreal, where she made a name for herself. Entered as a wildcard, she came back from a set down to defeat Marie Bouzkova before causing a seismic shock by knocking out two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro followed before a chance for revenge against Elena Rybakina, who defeated her in Washington prior to this. She once again came back from a set down to see out a tight finish to the match to defeat another Grand Slam champion and to book her place in her first senior tour final. Her opponent would be another former Grand Slam champion, this time in the form of Naomi Osaka. The Canadian went on to taste victory in three sets to triumph in the Canadian Open.

After her success in Montreal, she cannoned up the rankings to 24th in the world, making her a seed for the US Open. This feat is made even more remarkable by the fact that she started the year as the 333rd in the world. Like many others, Wilander has enjoyed the emergance of this young talent, describing her as a 'breath of fresh air' for the sport amid the dominance from the top ranked players.

"Well, Victoria Mboko is obviously a breath of fresh air," he said. "Wow, what a tennis player she is at such a young age. Then of course, coming from Canada. Canada has had great women players in Eugenie Bouchard and Bianca Andreescu, but she's following in their footsteps. So that's unbelievably exciting. It's exciting because she's athletically so mature and she also hits the ball unbelievably well. Plus she's got a great attitude, so I think we're looking at someone that's going to challenge for Grand Slam singles wins in the next 10 years."

The US Open has seen many surprise winners in the past. The most recent was Emma Raducanu in 2021, when, in her second Grand Slam, she won the event as a qualifier without even dropping a set. Wilander has stated that Mboko could follow in the footsteps of the Brit and win it this year.

He said: "Is she good enough to win it already? Yeah, maybe, she won the Canadian Open. Why couldn't she win the US Open? We've seen it done with Emma Raducanu. We saw it done with Bianca Andreescu. They were really young, both of them, and so is Mboko. These young players, they're really being helped by some of the younger champions - like Carlos Alcaraz or Emma Raducanu - because they suddenly believe that they can win at 18 years old, and then Mboko obviously is one of them."

The Swede carried on her praise of Mboko by revealing she has the 'two big M's' - mind and movement. With these important skills in her arsenal, the 1988 US Open champion believes she will not only get to the top, but remain there for the forseeable future.

"The two most important things in tennis are the mind and movement, the two big M's, and she has both of those," he said. "You're going to have good days and bad days when it comes to hitting forehands and backhands, but your mind and movement will never be bad if you're good at it, and I think that's what she has. She's an unbelievable athlete and she's an unbelievable fighter, and I think that's why she's going to stay at the top."

After skipping the Cincinnati Open, Mboko is ready to commence her maiden tournament at Flushing Meadows, looking for a deep run in the event to show that the Masters 1000 title she won was no fluke.