Mboko reaches semis to continue dream Montreal run

Victoria Mboko, a teen, blew past Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain to reach the semi-finals of the Canadian Open, continuing her fairytale run.

The 18-year-old Canadian won 6-4, 6-2 in Montreal, beating two-time major champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round.

In her first WTA 1000-level semi-final, she will face ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion.

In her on-court interview, Mboko, who is ranked 85th, said, “I’m so excited to be in the semi-final here.”

Mboko placed 333rd in the world at the beginning of the year, and when the rankings are updated the following week, he will be in the top 50.

She made her WTA Tour debut in March after a 22-game winning streak that included five titles from the lower-tier ITF Tour.

In her first Grand Slam appearance, she impressed, defeating 25th seed Magdalena Frech in Wimbledon’s opening round, and she did so in the third round.

Mboko is the youngest woman to reach the semi-finals since Belinda Bencic in 2015, and she is the first Canadian to do so since Bianca Andreescu won the competition in 2019.

Alexander Zverev came back from a set down to defeat defending champion Alexei Popyrin 6 (6) 6 6-4 6 6-3 in the men’s event in Toronto.

The 28-year-old German is reaching his 75th semi-final on the ATP Tour, becoming the only active men’s player to do so alongside Novak Djokovic.

He will face Russian Karen Khachanov, who defeated American Alex Michelsen 6-4, 7-6, 7-3.

Djokovic’s withdrawal from the tournament, which begins on Thursday, was confirmed by The Cincinnati Open.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion hasn’t played since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon semi-finals, but the 24-time champion is recovering from a groin injury.