Victoria Mboko: What Canadian said about Sabalenka ‘lesson’ and what’s to come after Indian Wells exit

Victoria Mboko’s maiden campaign at the Indian Wells came to an end in the quarter-final as she went down in straight sets against Aryna Sabalenka.

The Canadian teenager hadn’t dropped a set in the tournament before the match as she defeated Kimberley Birrell, 23rd seed Anna Kalinskaya and sixth seed Amanda Anisimova in two sets during her first three clashes.

Facing the world No 1 for the second time this year following Sabalenka’s 6-1, 7-6 (7-1) win in the round of 16 at the Australian Open, Mboko put up a better fight in the first set as there were no breaks of serve.

However, the experience of the four-time Grand Slam winner told as she took the tie-breaker to love and then claimed a single break in game five to win 7-6 (7-0), 6-4.

Here is what the 19-year-old Mboko, who has moved up one place to a career-high No 9 in the Live Rankings, had to say during her post-match press conference.

Q: Obviously not the result you were looking for today, but there’s probably some positives to take away from your tournament at Indian Wells. Just talk about the week that you had.

VICTORIA MBOKO: “Well, it was a really fun week. It’s my first time playing here, so not that many expectations for myself.

“Aryna played really great tennis today, and I could leave the court today just with a lesson more than a loss.”

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Q: Well played for the tournament. Can you talk a little bit about the match, how you feel you performed? Seemed like you were really aggressive and had quite a few chances. It was a close match.

VICTORIA MBOKO: “I mean, I do find, you’re right, I had a lot of chances in the first set. And, I mean, it’s unfortunate that I was unable to kind of take them as much as I could, but she was playing really well, especially on pressure points. I gotta give credit to her there.

“I feel like sometimes I was, like, maybe one or two points away from kind of maybe changing how the first set would have went and changing the momentum. But yeah, that’s something I could work on for the next time.”

Q: Would you say you liked this performance better than the previous one in Australia? Overall, would you say you had a more aggressive mindset in this match than you did then?

VICTORIA MBOKO: “I do think it was a bit better than Australia. I feel like the first time I played her, I was kind of overwhelmed with everything else happening, being on the centre court for the first time.

“Of course, playing World No 1, it’s never easy to play World No. 1. But coming into this match, I feel like having played her, you kind of know what to expect, and you’re able to work around with what you have to what she’s able to do. So I think it was an overall improvement, and there are still things I could improve on.”

Q: You mentioned lessons. You didn’t want to talk about it after your last win, but now the tournament is over, are there some lessons, some things you could take with you, besides, of course, the experience of playing here, which is huge in and of itself?

VICTORIA MBOKO: “I think just little things in my game, whether it’s my serve, my return, and the balls that I am able to hit that can make a big difference when playing against big hitters like her. I feel like this tournament I have played against a lot of big hitters.

“It’s just some things I can do in training where next time I’m faced with adversity like this, I know I’m more prepared.”

Q: Do you feel like you’re a different player even than you were two months ago in terms of your growth? Is it happening that fast for you in your mind?

VICTORIA MBOKO: “I don’t feel totally different, but I feel like I’m learning a lot, and I feel like that helps me prepare even more for the next match to come and I know what to expect.

“Do I feel like I’m different myself? Not much. But I guess in my tactics, game plan, the way I execute my shots, might be a little bit more different than how I would approach them last time. So, yeah.”

Q: Can you just tell me what you have planned next? A little bit of a break and then off to Miami? What do you have planned next for your calendar?

VICTORIA MBOKO: “Honestly, well, right now Miami is in my head, and I think I have the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers in Kazakhstan. But honestly, I don’t really look that far ahead.”