18-Year-Old Mboko Aims To Recreate Success of Raducanu and Andreescu at US Open

Sunday, 24 August 2025 at 16:47

byErik Virostko

Victoria Mboko wants to recreate the magical runs of Bianca Andreescu and Emma Raducanu at this year's US Open.

Mboko is an 18-year-old player who became a superstar at this year's Canadian Open in Montreal. She won the tournament as a wild card, winning the biggest trophy of her tennis career and breaking into the Top 25 on the WTA Tour.

Despite still being only a teenager, Mboko will be one of the favorites to win the title at the US Open. She is among the seeded players, and on top of that, she enters the event on a seven-match winning streak.

Her draw, however, isn't easy. She will start against a two-time singles Grand Slam champion, Barbora Krejcikova. But Mboko is not afraid of the challenge ahead.

As a young girl, she saw the success of Bianca Andreescu and Emma Raducanu. Andreescu won the US Open in 2019, and Raducanu won the New York Slam in 2021 as a qualifier without losing a set.

Both were teenagers, and as a teenage star, Mboko would like to recreate the success of these two players, even though she knows how difficult that will be.

"I feel like they kind of proved that you can do anything you put your mind to. They were both kind of the underdogs coming into the Grand Slam, so it just proves that the trophy is there for everyone and that you can do anything. I mean, especially watching Bianca, in Canada it was huge. I was really happy for her. I just feel really happy to be here."

Mboko enjoys increased attention despite not being used to it

Mboko has yet to win a Grand Slam title like Andreescu and Raducanu, but she already shares one thing with them. She rose to stardom in a span of a week, and from a relatively unknown teenager, she became a star not just in Canada, but in the whole world of tennis.

Since her win in Montreal, she had to do plenty of interviews, something she was not used to before. However, she enjoys everything that comes with the newfound fame.

"Everything has happened super quickly. After Montreal I did a lot of talks and a lot of interviews, and that's something that I'm not really used to as much as before, at least. I enjoy doing it. I love talking to new people and having new experiences. That's just a part of the game and the journey."

"Looking back at it, it was really cool to experience what I got to do, and then again, it's in the past. So I'm able to look back at it and kind of smile a bit, but there are so many more things to come in the future that I really look forward to. So I'm happy."