Victoria Mboko started the 2025 season more than 300 places behind Leylah Fernandez in the WTA Rankings, but she will finish the campaign ahead of her fellow Canadian as she proved why she is the rising star of women’s tennis.
The 19-year-old Mboko and Fernandez faced each other for the first time on the WTA Tour when they met in the semi-final of the Hong Kong Open and it was the teenager who came out victorious.
2021 US Open runner-up Fernandez dominated early on as she won the opening set, but Mboko hit back to secure a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory to reach her second final of the year following her title run at the Canadian Open in August.
She will face first-time WTA finalist Cristiana Busca in the showpiece match after the Spaniard defeated Maya Joint 6-3, 6-1.
Mboko had already secured the Canadian No 1 year-end ranking before the match, but her victory shows once again just how meteoric her rise has been in 2025.
The youngster started the year at No 333 while Fernandez was at No 31 on January 6, but at the beginning of March she broke into the top 200 after winning five ITF singles titles. Top 200 became the top 100 on the back of her run to the third round of the French Open.
In August, she not only made her top 50 bow, but also her top 30 debut after winning the Canadian Open as a wildcard, defeating four Grand Slams winners – including former world No 1 Naomi Osaka and reigning French Open champion Coco Gauff – en route to the title.
With that win she peaked at No 24 and moved ahead of Fernandez in the battle to be the Canadian No 1, a title she never relinquished.
After a dip in form at the US Open and the two WTA 1000 events in China, she returned to form in Hong Kong.
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Mboko broke into the top 20 after her opening win at the Hong Kong Open and her run to the semi-final meant she was assured of staying ahead of Fernandez with the WTA 250 event their last tournament of the 2025 calendar.
With her latest win, Mboko is at No 18 in the Live Rankings and sits on 2,070 points while Fernandez finishes her campaign at No 22 on 1,821 points.
But 18th place is the ceiling for Mboko – at least for this year – as she will remaing behind 17th place Ludmilla Samsonova in the rankings even if she wins the title as she will move to 2,157 points with the Russian on 2,209.
With no ranking points to defend at the Australian Open next year, she will no doubt be eyeing an even bigger milestone early in the new year.
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