The entire stadium erupted every time Victoria Mboko stepped up to serve. At just 18 years old, the Canadian was living every tennis player’s dream — a home crowd willing her toward victory against one of the world’s best. But for Elena Rybakina, standing on the other side of the net, those cheers felt more like daggers.
Elena Rybakina Speaks Out After Tough Loss To Victoria Mboko
Rybakina didn’t hold back when discussing the crowd support that Mboko received during their semifinal clash at the Canadian Open. In her post-match press conference, the Kazakhstani player made her feelings crystal clear about the atmosphere she encountered on court.
“Yeah, that wasn’t nice, of course. I played in a lot of situations where the crowd was supporting the player, but I would say that here it was pretty tough from very beginning. I already felt it from the first game we played, and especially when it’s in between the serves,” Rybakina stated after the match.
She continued, revealing her mindset heading into the match. “It is what it is. This is something I was kind of expecting, and definitely it didn’t depend anyhow on my serve or in the mistakes I did or wrong choices.”
Meanwhile, Mboko’s performance lived up to every bit of hype the crowd generated. The teenager battled through a wrist injury and saved a match point to reach her first WTA final. Mboko became the fourth Canadian woman to reach a final at the Canadian Open and the first since Bianca Andreescu’s title run in 2019.
Mboko d. Elena Rybakina 1-6 7-5 7-6(4) in Montreal
Unreal.
Match point saved.
Down 3-5 in the 3rd set.
18 year old Victoria is into her first career final, and it’s a WTA 1000 in front of her home crowd.
Oh yeah… did I mention she beat 3 Grand Slam Champions this week?… pic.twitter.com/UDhp5TKcH3
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 7, 2025
The 18-year-old also became the youngest woman to reach the semifinals since Belinda Bencic’s 2015 win in Toronto. She also became the first Canadian to reach the semifinals when the tournament was held in Montreal, as previous Canadian semifinalists Faye Urban and Andreescu succeeded in Toronto.
Mboko’s Epic Comeback Victory Overshadowed Rybakina’s Remarkable Campaign
For more than an hour, it looked like Rybakina would cruise to an easy victory. She dominated the opening set 6-1 in just 31 minutes, showcasing the form that has made her one of the world’s elite players. However, Mboko found her rhythm and fought back to win the second set 7-5, setting up a winner-takes-all third set.
The drama reached a fever pitch when Mboko suffered a wrist injury after falling awkwardly in the second game of the third set, requiring a medical timeout to get it taped. Despite the setback, she saved a match point with Rybakina serving at 5-4 in the third set, breaking back to force a tiebreaker to win 7-6(4) after two hours and 46 minutes.
For Rybakina, this loss capped a challenging period in her recent play. The World No. 12 had reached the semifinals of the Washington DC Open just the previous week, where she lost to eventual champion Leylah Fernandez.
The result became even more remarkable considering Rybakina had defeated Mboko 6-3, 7-5 in Washington just two weeks earlier. However, the Canadian’s rapid improvement, combined with their home-court advantage, proved decisive in their rematch.
