17th-seeded Victoria Mboko will make her Australian Open debut against one of the local favorites, as the Canadian teenager takes on Australian teen sensation, Emerson Jones, in the first round. Having shown her abilities at all three other majors last year, Mboko will look to show what she is made of in Melbourne as well.
Victoria Mboko vs. Emerson Jones Match Details
Date: Jan. 18, 2026 (in ET)
Tournament: Australian Open 2026
Round: First Round (Round of 128)
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Category:Â Grand Slam
Live Telecast: Tennis Channel, TSN, RDS, Sky Sports
Mboko vs. Jones Head-to-Head
The two youngsters are yet to play each other on the WTA Tour, and the head-to-head stands at 0-0.
Mboko had a mixed start to the season at the United Cup, winning her first match against Zhu Lin before losing to Elise Mertens. However, the Canadian player was on a great run in Adelaide, beating the likes of Beatriz Haddad Maia, Anna Kalinskaya, Madison Keys, and Kimberly Birrell to reach the final. She did have an off day in the final, losing 4-6, 1-6 against the third seed, Mirra Andreeva.
Jones started her season with a win, winning 6-3, 6-3 against Tatjana Maria in the first round of the Brisbane International, but could not keep up the momentum as she lost 4-6,1-6 against Liudmila Samsonova in the second round. She had a first-round exit at the Adelaide International, losing 3-6, 3-6 against Emma Navarro.
Mboko vs. Jones Prediction
Mboko was in phenomenal form on hard courts last year. In her first year as a pro on the WTA Tour, the young Canadian won a WTA 1000 event in Montreal and finished the year with a WTA 250 event in Hong Kong. She was also in tremendous hard-court form on the Challenger and ITF circuits at the beginning of last year, winning five hard-court titles combined across the two Tours.
Jones was primarily active on the ITF Tour last year, where the Australian teenager won two titles in Fukoka and Playford. She also had some other runner-up finishes at the ITF events in Sydney and Rancho Santa Fe.
More:Â 6 Dark Horses Who Could Wreak Havoc at Australian Open, Including Hubert Hurkacz and Victoria Mboko
Mboko is already a Top-20 player after one year of WTA tennis, whereas Jones is still a young player who is finding her footing on the Tour. The Australian will have the crowd support behind her, but the Canadian has come to Melbourne on the back of some good form, and she has the pedigree of beating former Major champions at the WTA 1000 events.
Therefore, playing someone outside the Top 100 in the first round of a Major shouldn’t be a tough ask for Mboko, as shown by the PFSN Simulator, which shows the Canadian has a 75 percent chance of winning the first-round match.
Pick: Mboko to win in straight sets
