Victoria Mboko chasing rankings milestone after saving match points in Adelaide thriller
Victoria Mboko continued her positive start to the 2026 campaign with a battling three-set victory over Anna Kalinskaya at the Adelaide International.
The Canadian rising star prevailed 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(6) against 33rd-ranked Kalinskaya in the second round in Adelaide after saving two match points.
In a contest that lasted just short of two hours and 25 minutes, Mboko started strongly as she broke three times en route to taking the opening set.
Kalinskaya struck back by surging into a 5-0 second set lead before serving the set out at the second time of asking to force a decider.
Both players failed to serve the match out in the third set, with Mboko broken to love at 5-3 and Kalinskaya unable to convert a match point at 6-5, 40-30.
Mboko faced another Kalinskaya match point at 5-6 in the deciding tiebreak, but she won the next three points to snatch victory from the 27-year-old Russian’s grasp.
The 19-year-old’s triumph has seen her advance to the quarter-finals of the WTA 500 tournament, where she overcame world No 59 Beatriz Haddad Maia 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in her opening round match.
Mboko now holds a 3-1 record in 2026, having began her campaign at the United Cup, where she beat Lin Zhu in three sets and lost to Elise Mertens in three sets.
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What does Victoria Mboko’s run in Adelaide mean for her WTA Ranking?
Mboko, who is at her career-best ranking of 17th, has increased her points total by 73 points to 2,230 for reaching the last eight in Adelaide.
The Canadian remains 17th in the Live WTA Rankings, but she has closed the gap to 16th-ranked Naomi Osaka to 136 points.
If Mboko reaches the semi-finals, her points total will rise to 2,317, while she could finish the week with as many as 2,622 points if she wins the WTA 500 event.
Lifting the title could see Mboko climb as high as 14th, which would be a new career-high position — depending on the results of world No 15 Emma Navarro, who is also in action in Adelaide.
Who will Victoria Mboko play next?
Mboko will face either Madison Keys or Tereza Valentova — who will play their second round match on Wednesday — in the quarter-finals in Adelaide.
Keys, the world No 9 and second seed, is the defending champion.
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