Victoria Mboko’s ‘true’ ranking may be revealed in alternative tennis list
Victoria Mboko is one of the fastest rising players in the women’s game and she confirmed her status as a star of the future with a thrilling win against Coco Gauff at the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal.
The 18-year-old Canadian was ranked at No 284 at the end of 2024, but she is on track to climb into the top 50 over the next few weeks as her thrilling form continues.
Her 6-1, 6-4 win against Gauff was sealed in just 62 minutes and she now has a big chance to climb up the WTA Rankings as she plays in tournaments she would not have qualified to compete in a year ago.
“It’s incredible,” she said on court after her victory. “I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.
“Coming into the match, I was so locked in. I tried to keep my composure as much as I could, especially playing in front of so many people. This is a very special experience for me.”
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Mboko is now the talk of the tennis world and the sponsorship offers will start to roll in for a player who is clearly operating at a higher level than her current ranking suggests.
The WTA Race is the rolling ranking for the calendar year and Mboko is No 68 in that ranking.
She is also up to No 23 in the UTR Rankings, which uses a different method to calculate the form and ranking of players.
While the WTA Rankings are based around a rolling 52-week points tally, the UTR Rating reflects current form and uses an algorithm to serve up it’s top ten list.
Victories against higher-ranked players are worth more in the UTR list than the official ATP or WTA Ranking, meaning they offer a more accurate reflection of the current form at the top of the game.
The UTR Rankings are based on the current form from the last few weeks and months rather than reflecting results that occurred up to a year ago, with the system created to promote fair and competitive play across the tennis world.
All players, regardless of age, gender, geography, or skill level, are rated on the same scale between 1.00 and 16.50 based on actual match results.
The UTR Ranking is open to players of all levels of the game and the algorithm used provides an intriguing insight to the current form of the top players in the game.
As wins against higher-ranked opponents are given extra reward in the UTR Ranking, Mboko’s win against the current UTR-ranked No 1 player Gauff will have given her a huge boost.
Mboko will now be keen to continue to build her momentum heading into the US Open, where she is set to make her debut.
This time last year, Mboko was playing in lower-ranked events on the ITF’s World Tennis Tour, but she has arrived in the big time now and her performance against Gauff suggests she is here to stay.
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