Victoria Mboko set to unlock new WTA Rankings milestone with superb win over Elena Rybakina
Teen star Victoria Mboko has ended Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina’s winning streak to reach the semi-final of the Qatar Open with the win helping her to reach a new milestone in the WTA Rankings.
Fresh from winning her second Grand Slam title, Rybakina was looking to make it 10 out of 10 in terms of consecutive match wins following victories over Wang Xinyu and Zheng Qinwen in her opening two matches in Doha.
Mboko, meanwhile, lost in the fourth round at Melbourne Park and reached the quarter-final on her debut at the WTA 1000 event with wins over Magda Linette and fifth seed Mirra Andreeva.
There were big stakes on the line as reigning world No 3 Rybakina was chasing a new career-high of No 2 in the rankings while Mboko – who started the tournament at No 13 – had the top-10 in her sights.
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The Kazakh star held a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over the 19-year-old, but it was the rising star who emerged victorious after a two-hour and 23-minute battle as she secured a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 victory.
“Going into the match I knew I would have to put up a really big fight,” Mboko said. “She’d just won the Australian Open, I’ve previously played her three times, so I think I knew what to expect coming into the match, and that it wasn’t going to be easy at all.
“I feel like we both had our ups and downs in the match. Both of us maybe not starting so great. I think when you’re not feeling your best and just getting it through, I think it feels good in a way when you’re able to pull it through.”
How It Affects Their Rankings…
Following world No 2 Iga Swiatek’s loss to Maria Sakkari earlier in the day, Rybakina had an opportunity to usurp the six-time Grand Slam winner in the WTA Rankings, but she needed to reach the final to unlock a new career high.
Her bid is over for now, but she will get another opportunity at the Dubai Tennis Championships next week, provided she is fit and will play.
Mboko, meanwhile, had moved up to No 11 in the Live Rankings by reaching the last eight and she has moved up another place to a new high of No 10 with Ekaterina Alexandrova dropping down one place to no 11.
But Mboko could still miss out on the top-10 when the official rankings are updated next week, as Karolina Muchova could pip her as the Czech has moved up four places to No 15 in the Live Rankings after reaching the semi-finals with her win over Anna Kalinskaya.
Former world No 8 Muchova, who will face Sakkari in the semi-final, will beat the Canadian to the top-10 spot if she wins the title.
Mboko takes on Jeļena Ostapenko in the last four and victory over the Latvian will make her top-10 debut official.
