Mboko ousts Australian Open champion Rybakina to reach Doha semifinals

Over the past few months, Victoria Mboko has shown a champion’s mentality on several occasions during her rise into the top 15. The Canadian teenager showed it again Friday at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, rallying from a break down in the final set to oust second seed and reigning Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals.

Mboko, currently No. 13 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, had already beaten Rybakina en route to her breakthrough title run at the National Bank Open in Montreal last August. But it was the World No. 3 who entered the match with a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head record, having beaten Mboko in Washington and Tokyo last year.

Momentum swings in the first two sets

The fourth chapter in their budding rivalry began with Mboko jumping out to a 2-0 lead, only for Rybakina to reel off five of the next six games to go up 5-3. But the Canadian swung the momentum again, winning four straight games to take the opening set 7-5.

Rybakina responded in the second set, breaking early to lead 3-1. Mboko broke back to level at 3-3, but the Kazakh struck again and held on to close out the set 6-4.

Mboko fights back in the decider

Rybakina broke once more in the fifth game of the decider to lead 4-2, but Mboko raised her level again. With her back against the wall, she stayed aggressive and broke back for 4-4. Serving at 5-4, Mboko earned three match points at 0-40 on Rybakina’s serve in the 10th game, only for the Kazakh to save all three.

Mboko earned a fourth match point moments later, and this time made it count. She stepped into a second serve and ripped a backhand return, forcing a Rybakina error into the net and sealing a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 victory in 2 hours and 23 minutes.

"Going into the match I knew I would have to put up a really big fight," Mboko told the media after the win. "She'd just won the Australian Open, I've previously played her three times, so I think I knew what to expect coming into the match, and that it wasn't going to be easy at all. I feel like we both had our ups and downs in the match. Both of us maybe not starting so great. I think when you're not feeling your best and just getting it through, I think it feels good in a way when you're able to pull it through."

The Canadian added that she was surprised herself that she was able to break the Rybakina's serve, which she ddescribed as the best on tour, at the critical junctures in the match. "I think she is the best server on tour," she added. "I think for her to hold it would have been a lot easier for her than for me. I mean, not putting so much expectation on myself to keep holding every single time consistently, I think that just let me have less pressure on myself in the match and let me play freely. So sometimes I was surprised to even break her."

Ostapenko awaits Mboko in the semifinals

Mboko, who defeated fifth seed Mirra Andreeva in the previous round, will next face Jelena Ostapenko. The former French Open champion reached the semifinals in Doha for the fourth time with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 win over Italian lucky loser Elisabetta Cocciaretto. The Latvian registered her 24th career win in Doha, the most by any player in tournament history.

It will be the first meeting between Mboko and Ostapenko. If Mboko wins, she'll become the fourth Canadian ever to reach the Top 10 in the PIF WTA Rankings.