Canadian tennis star Victoria Mboko has reached the quarterfinals of the 2026 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, where she is set to face Aryna Sabalenka. Ahead of their match, Mboko, who lost to the World No. 1 at the Australian Open earlier this year, shared her thoughts about the upcoming rematch at Tennis Paradise.
Mboko and Sabalenka have met only once on the WTA Tour, in the fourth round of the 2026 Melbourne Major, where the Belarusian secured a 6-1, 7-6(1) victory before finishing as the runner-up to Elena Rybakina.
Victoria Mboko Makes Her Feelings Known on Facing Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells QF
Seeded 10th at the 2026 BNP Paribas Open, Mboko started her campaign in the second round following a first-round bye. She defeated Kimberly Birrell with a score of 6-4, 7-6(5) in her opening match. The World No. 10 then triumphed over 23rd seed Anna Kalinskaya (6-4, 6-1) and sixth seed Amanda Anisimova (6-4, 6-1) in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, advancing to the quarterfinals.
Following her fourth-round victory, during the post-match press conference, Mboko was asked about facing Sabalenka in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 hard court tournament. She remarked that playing against the World No. 1 in Australia was a “big eye-opener,” helping her to understand where her game stands. Mboko mentioned that after facing Sabalenka, she now knows what to expect from her in California.
“Yeah, it kind of did. I mean, she’s World No. 1. She’s obviously doing something right. Yeah, I think it was a big eye-opener playing her in the Australian Open, and I’d say coming into this match, of course, I played her, so I know what to expect,” Mboko said.
The World No. 10 stated that Sabalenka hits a really “good ball,” and since their encounter in Melbourne, she has been working to improve her ability to handle that type of shot during practice sessions.
“I do think about it a lot, and you always try to see how to improve yourself in those kinds of situations in practice, and hopefully the next round I could be more prepared for those kinds of balls. Well, I mean I could just say playing her in general, like I said before, she generates a really good ball,” she continued.
Mboko recalled that at the Australian Open, Sabalenka played aggressively, often pushing her off the court, and now she is hoping to hold her ground a bit better at Indian Wells.
“I feel like she was able to push me off the court a lot more and able to really stay aggressive against me. So hopefully I can hold my ground a bit more against her and try to kind of even it out a bit more. Yeah, we’ll see. I mean, it was my first time playing on a Grand Slam center court too, so I feel like there was a lot going on in my head, but yeah, we’ll see. It’s a new day, new tournament,” Mboko added.
In addition to her singles campaign at the 2026 BNP Paribas Open, Mboko is also competing in the doubles event alongside Mirra Andreeva. They have advanced to the quarterfinals and will take on the fifth-seeded pair of Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunić.
