Victoria Mboko offered ‘super important’ advice by Bianca Andreescu after stunning Montreal triumph
Victoria Mboko has been urged to “enjoy” her Canadian Open triumph and surround herself with close allies after her stunning success in Montreal.
Eighteen-year-old Mboko shocked the tennis world with her astonishing triumph at the WTA 1000 event, beating four Grand Slam champions on her way to a first WTA Tour title.
Having been ranked as the world No 85 ahead of the tournament, the Canadian has now surged to 24th in the world, and is set to be seeded at the US Open later this month.
Mboko was the first Canadian woman to lift the title on home soil since Bianca Andreescu, who triumphed in Toronto in 2019.
Andreescu herself had a drastic rise up the tennis pecking order in 2019, triumphing in both Indian Wells and Toronto before lifting the US Open title later that summer.
The 25-year-old is the only Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title and is the highest-ranked Canadian in WTA Rankings history, reaching a high of fourth in October 2019.
Andreescu has largely struggled in the years since her stunning triumphs in both Toronto and New York, failing to recapture that magic due to a string of injury issues in recent years.
However, the former world No 4 was keen to offer advice to Mboko, who, like Andreescu, was only 18 when winning her first WTA Tour title at a WTA 1000 event.
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Speaking on CBC News, the 2019 US Open champion advised Mboko to build on the “momentum” of her success and keep “her circle tight” following her rapid rise to fame.
“I can only speak from experience,” said Andreescu.
“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.
“But with tennis, you know, there’s a tournament every week, so that can always be difficult, but, you know, really savour 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.
“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: ‘Okay, I need to realise how to get there again’ – because being consistent with it can always be a struggle. And then just surround yourself with people that truly care about you.
“With all the attention and media and whoever, 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.”
Mboko has withdrawn from the Cincinnati Open in the aftermath of her Canadian Open triumph, and will not return to action until the US Open, which starts on August 24th.
The 18-year-old has never competed in the main draw in New York and is in line to make just her third Grand Slam main draw appearance, after her French Open and Wimbledon debuts earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, all eyes will be on whether Andreescu is back ready to compete at the final Grand Slam of the year.
After missing the opening four months of 2025 due to her recovery from appendicitis, the 25-year-old suffered her latest setback after rolling her ankle while serving for victory against Barbora Krejcikova in Montreal.
Andreescu was able to close out a straight-sets win but was forced to withdraw from her second-round match, and is not in Cincinnati Open action this week.
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