The 7 youngest Canadian Open semi-finalists: Victoria Mboko joins esteemed group
Victoria Mboko has been the shining star of the Canadian Open in 2025.
The home favourite has been the biggest talking point of the tournament, and victory over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro powered her into a first WTA 1000 semi-final on Monday evening.
Aged 18, Mboko is the youngest Canadian Open semi-finalist in a decade, and one of just seven women to reach the last four before turning 19 since the event became a Tier 1/WTA 1000 tournament in 1990.
Here, we look at the esteemed company she now keeps at her home event.
Victoria Mboko – 2025
Mboko will celebrate her 19th birthday on August 26th, meaning she is just inside the cutoff to join this incredible list.
The teen star received a wildcard into the main draw and, after knocking out 23rd seed Sofia Kenin in round two, went on to stun world No 2 and top seed Coco Gauff in the fourth round.
Mboko has dropped just one set across her five matches so far and will take on ninth seed Elena Rybakina for a place in the final.
Belinda Bencic – 2015
Mboko is the youngest semi-finalist since Bencic in 2015, with the Swiss just four months past her 18th birthday when she stormed to the title a decade ago.
Bencic shocked fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki in the second round and then downed fifth seed Ana Ivanovic in the last eight to reach the semi-final, where she stunned top seed Serena Williams.
The Swiss was leading Simona Halep 7–6(5), 6–7(4), 3–0 when the Romanian retired injured, making Bencic the youngest Canadian Open of the 21st Century to date.
Ana Ivanovic – 2006
Former world No 1 Ivanovic was just 18 when she won the first of three WTA 1000 titles in 2006, and was the youngest Canadian Open winner of the 21st Century until Bencic.
Thirteenth seed Ivanovic defeated Katarina Srebotnik to reach the last four, where she downed ninth seed and fellow future No 1 Dinara Safina to reach her first WTA 1000 final.
The Serbian took just 58 minutes to beat Martina Hingis 6-2, 6-3 in the championship match, sealing her sole Canadian Open title.
Serena Williams – 2000
Williams would win three Canadian Open titles during her career, though the American also reached the final on her tournament debut as an 18-year-old in 2000.
Weeks before her 19th birthday, the fourth seed stormed into her maiden event semi-final with a 6-0, 6-1 quarter-final win over 16th seed Amy Frazier.
Williams would then beat seventh seed and former champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the last four, though she retired injured down 0–6, 6–3, 3–0 to Hingis in the final.
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Martina Hingis – 1998-99
Prior to her 2000 triumph, Swiss great Hingis had reached the semi-final as a 17-year-old in 1998, and again as an 18-year-old in 1999.
Hingis was the top seed at the tournament in 1998 and defeated 14th seed Sandrine Testud to reach her first Canadian Open semi-final, where she fell to eventual champion Monica Seles.
However, the world No 1 improved her result in 1999, defeating fifth seed Sanchez Vicario in the quarter-final before victory over third seed Mary Pierce in the last four.
Hingis ended Seles’ reign in the championship match, the 18-year-old Swiss sealing a 6-4, 6-4 triumph to lift the first of her two consecutive titles.
Monica Seles – 1992
Mboko has already joined Seles as one of three wildcards to reach the last four of the event, but also emulates the nine-time Grand Slam champion on this list.
Ranked No 1 in the world, an 18-year-old Seles made her tournament debut in 1992, and battled past home favourite Patrica Hy in the quarter-final to reach her maiden Canadian Open semi-final.
Seles would go on to defeat eighth seed Lori McNeil in the last four, though she was beaten by Sanchez Vicario in three sets in the final.
However, she would later win four straight titles from 1995-98.
Jennifer Capriati – 1991, 1993
One of the greatest prodigies in tennis history, Capriati would twice reach the last four of the Canadian Open before turning 19.
After reaching the last eight as a 14-year-old in 1990, a 15-year-old Capriati made her first semi-final at the event in 1991 thanks to a 6-1, 6-1 thrashing of Natasha Zvereva.
The third seed reached the final after top seed Gabriela Sabatini retired injured in their last-four showdown, and defeated fourth seed Katerina Maleeva 6-2, 6-3 to become the event’s youngest winner.
Capriati did not play the event in 1992 but returned as a 17-year-old in 1993, reaching the last four after Julie Halard withdrew from their quarter-final.
The sixth seed defeated Sanchez Vicario in the semi-final, though she fell in the final to Steffi Graf.
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