Victoria Mboko may only be 18, but she’s already making huge strides in women’s tennis this year. Her raw athleticism and explosive arrival on the WTA scene have some fans even comparing her to a young Venus Williams! The Toronto-raised teenager, born in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Congolese parents, is advancing to the third round of the French Open after defeating No. 41-ranked (and 2024 Wimbledon quarterfinalist) Lulu Sun on Sunday (6-1, 7-6) and No. 59-ranked Eva Lys on Wednesday in straight sets (6-4, 6-4).
She’s only the second teenage qualifier to reach the Women’s Singles third round at the French Open in the past decade, after Mirra Andreeva, who was 16 in 2023.
“I was very focused throughout the whole match,” Mboko told reporters on Wednesday after defeating Lys in her second-round match. “Of course, she was a very solid player, especially from the baseline. She really made me earn every single point.”
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Mboko now boasts a 42-5 record after dominating the ITF circuit earlier this year with four titles and 22 consecutive wins. According to Tennis Canada, the teen received wild cards into other major tournaments, like the Miami Open and the Italian Open, where she held her own against top-10 players Paula Badosa and even world No. 2 seed Coco Gauff.
But the French Open marks Mboko’s first Grand Slam appearance at the senior level; impressive, considering her recent struggles with knee pain. In March, she told Tennis Sweet Spot that she hadn’t been able to do much in 2024 due to injury recovery.
“I was training in Europe. I was really far away from home, I didn’t really get a lot of opportunities to play close to home or a lot of tournaments in general. So when I started playing this year, I had a pretty busy schedule. I was really pumped to play a lot of matches and was really excited just to get on the court and just play freely. New Year, clean slate. I’m glad it’s been going well and hopefully, I can continue doing well. So far so good.”
The teenager, who was raised in Burlington, ON, actually comes from a family of tennis players (so, perhaps, another pseudo-similarity to Williams?) She’s the youngest of four Mboko siblings, two boys and two girls, all of whom have played tennis.
According to a recent WTA profile, Mboko’s sister, Gracia, and brother, Kevin, both competed at the college level. Her other brother, David, had to stop playing tennis due to eye problems.
“I just remember watching them from the sidelines and not wanting to be left out,” Mboko told the WTA earlier this month.
“I’ve actually never beaten any of them,” she said. “I never like to lose a lot. I played my sister once in a tournament and I lost 0 and 0. I was absolutely devastated. They still hold that over me to this day!”
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Mboko is currently ranked No. 89 in the live WTA rankings, but that number could be bumped up Friday when she faces world No. 8 seed and Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen in the third round!
The match is scheduled for 5:00 a.m. ET on Court Simonne-Mathieu at Roland Garros.