Victoria Mboko draws inspiration from Emma Raducanu and Bianca Andreescu
The US Open has a history of surprise title winners in recent years with Bianca Andreescu and Emma Raducanu among them and now rising star Victoria Mboko is hoping to follow in their footsteps.
Back in 2019, Andreescu became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles trophy when she defeated the great Serena Williams in the final at Flushing Meadows.
Andreescu, though, did make her breakthrough earlier that year as she was at No 107 at the start of the year, but then surged up the WTA Rankings after winning the Indian Wells Open and Canadian Open and was seeded 156th in New York.
However, she still had to beat the likes of Caroline Wozniacki and Belinda Bencic to reach the final before getting the better of 23-time Grand Slam winner Williams in straight sets.
Two years later, Raducanu enjoyed an even more remarkable run as she started her campaign in qualifying and ended up becoming the first qualifier – man or woman – to win a Grand Slam, winning 10 matches without dropping a set. Raducanu surged into the top 20 of that title run and the top 10 in 2022.
Mboko’s storyline is quite similar to fellow Canadian Andreescu, but she started further down the rankings as she was at No 333 in January before climbing to No 85 in July.
She then won the Canadian Open after receiving a wildcard entry and jumped to N0 24, giving her a seeding for the US Open.
“I feel like they kind of proved that you can do anything you put your mind to. They were both kind of the underdogs coming into the Grand Slam, so it just proves that the trophy is there for everyone and that you can do anything,” the 18-year-old said of Raducanu and Andreescu.
Mboko added: “I mean, especially watching Bianca, in Canada it was huge. I was really happy for her. I just feel really happy to be here.”
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The youngster missed the Cincinnati Open following her Montreal success as she tried to shake off a wrist injury and the US Open will be her first event after her title run.
The time off certainly did her well as she had a lot of off-court commitments following her stunning performances as she beat Grand Slam winners Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Naomi Osaka during her run.
“Everything has happened super quickly,” she admitted. “After Montreal I did a lot of talks and a lot of interviews, and that’s something that I’m not really used to as much as before, at least. I enjoy doing it. I love talking to new people and having new experiences. That’s just a part of the game and the journey.
“Looking back at it, it was really cool to experience what I got to do, and then again, it’s in the past. So I’m able to look back at it and kind of smile a bit, but there are so many more things to come in the future that I really look forward to. So I’m happy.”
Seeded 22nd for the season-ending Grand Slam, Mboko has been given a tough draw as she will face fellow major champion Barbora Krejcikova in the first round and could face 10th seed Emman Navarro in the third round and fifth seed Mirra Andreeva in the fourth round.
But Mboko, Raducanu and Andreescu have all proved that nothing is impossible.
