Rome – During a sunny afternoon on the Terrace of Foro Italico, Victoria Mboko stops in the middle of the sentence. With three tables, a glow of gossip and laughs burst – and, in a Canadian moment instinctively, the teenager apologizes immediately.
But while the young woman of 18 years from Toronto is a conversationist either polite, there is nothing alcohol about her imposing game – or her phenomenal ascent. Mboko began the year classified n ° 333, and in January, she left to play her first events of the season – a pair of W35 ITF in the Caribbean. She won them both. And then she continued to win and win. His global record in 2025 is a 33 catchy victories at only three defeats; Its classification goes to n ° 156.
The trophies mounted – from Rome, in Georgia to Manchester, England in Porto, Portugal. Bringing them home has been a fight – large metal plates have often caused consternation to the safety of the airport. Mboko had started the year in a positive physical and mental state.
“You just had to be more confident in me,” she said.
Each match and tournament has fueled an increasing cycle of trust.
It didn’t go unnoticed. Mboko received a Miami joker, where she won her first Top 100 victory (and the first victory at the Tour level) on Camila Osorio. She then pushed Paula Badosa all along in a barnburner of 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (3).
This week, she went on another Joker opportunity, beating another pair of better players – Cristina Bucsa and Kamilla Rakhimova – to go through qualifications. A defeat in the first round of the Jokers Arianna Zucchini landed Mboko with an appointment in prime time when she faces the seeded n ° 4 Coco Gauff during the Friday evening session in Central.
Mboko’s qualification joker was a last -minute surprise – she trained in Biarritz, in France and was preparing to play in an ITF event this week when she discovered it – and she is stunned with excitation simply to be during a main event.
“Look around!” She said. “It’s so beautiful vibrations. The facilities are so beautiful. I’m in Rome!”
But although Mboko’s emergence was so sudden that she still cannot believe it, it is not just here to be touristy. Learn to find out more about it below.
Mboko targets power games with big blows
The first instincts of Mboko in the court are all big blows.
“I like to be very powerful and I like to take control of the point,” she said. “I like things at my own pace, I don’t like people to precipitate me.”
But while some aggressive players look at extreme versions of this style, Mboko already learns a wider tennis philosophy.
“All the matches that I am going to control, so we also work a lot on my defensive game and that you will be coupled a lot,” she said. “I’m sure there are so many girls who can hit much louder than me, so being able to move well is also very important. To take control, you must first build it, run a little and have endurance.”
The old Nathalie Tauziat n ° 3 was by his side this year
Who better to teach a broader repertoire than Nathalie Tauziat, the old service n ° 3 of service and volle which excelled on the grass? Mboko crossed the first time with the French as a junior, when Tauziat worked with Tennis Canada. But it was only this year that the 1998 Wimbledon finalist was specifically assigned to his travels with her.
“I am very used to her and she is very used to me,” said Mboko. “I feel very relaxed and calm with her.”
Tauziat also stretched Mboko tactically.
“She pushes me more to use all aspects of my game, because that’s how she played,” said Mboko. “I have the impression that she used her expertise very well – she knows the game and she knows what I am able to produce. Sometimes we work on my slices. She wants me to come more on the net and that I am more versatile, so that if a situation presents itself in the match, I am there and I am in preparation.”
Tauziat will also be a practical figure to have around the presence of Mboko when he started at the Grand Chelem in Roland Garros in just over two weeks. She reached the quarter -finals of her major at home in 1991, and she will be back in court this year for the Legends event.
“She is French, she knows the atmosphere,” said Mboko.
Mboko was first inspired by his three older brothers and sisters …
Mboko is the youngest of the four brothers and sisters who play tennis. His sister, Gracia, and her older brother Kevin both participated in the college level. His other brother, David, had to stop due to eye problems. Given the importance of sport in her family, it is not surprising that she took a racket for the first time at only 3 years old.
“I just remember watching them from the touch and not wanting to be left out,” said Mboko.
Although she is now the furthest from the game of the four days, Mboko’s brothers and sisters are among his most appreciated supporters – there is always a family pending order that they have not allowed it to be rectified.
“I have never beat any of them,” she said. “I never like to lose much. I played my sister once in a tournament and I lost 0 and 0. I was absolutely devastated. They are still holding me to this day!”
The parents of Mboko, Cyprien Mboko and Godee Kitadi, emigrated from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1999 due to political agitation, but they instilled the love of their inheritance in their children. Mboko has not yet visited the DRC, but all of his grandparents still live there and he is high on his list of buckets. For the moment, his favorite way to appreciate Congolese culture is via her mother’s cuisine – especially a dessert treat.
“The donuts are these small dough balls – it is a French translation of” Fucking ” – and I could eat it so much,” said Mboko. “For an athlete, they are not great to eat. But when I come home, she always makes a pile, because she never sees me.”
… but professional inspiration includes Serena Williams and Bianca Andreescu
The Rogers Cup in Toronto was Mboko’s home tournament growing up, and all of his first tennis memories involved it in one way or another.
“I remember going there when I was a child and watching all the great players play,” said Mboko. “We looked at Serena and Venus a lot, and that’s where I took a lot of inspiration, because Serena was literally the biggest of all time. I saw how much the pros and I was so impressed by them. And now I see them as right next to me. It’s crazy how life works, it’s a great feeling.”
A particular pro is not only in competition alongside him, but offering him his advice. Mboko calls the 2019 US Open champion, Bianca Andreescu, the first Canadian to win a major, an “inspiration” – and an effusive Andreescu, who won her first round match in Rome the same day, reimbursed the nice words.
“I’m still rooted for Vicky,” said Andreescu. “I sent him a message and I said,” Hey, if you want to talk, let me know. “At the end of the day, we are the only ones who can refer to each other, so if we can help each other, this is the main thing. [against Gauff]. “”
