Victoria Mboko is through to her second WTA 1000 final after she delivered a stellar display to defeat Jelena Ostapenko at the 2026 Qatar Open.
The Canadian star prevailed 6-3, 6-2 against world No 24 Ostapenko in an hour and 14 minutes in the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Doha.
At the age of 19 years and 166 days, Mboko is the fourth-youngest finalist at the WTA Qatar Open since the event was founded in 2001 after Maria Sharapova (2005), Svetlana Kuznetsova (2004) and Ostapenko (2016).
The Canadian is aiming to win her second WTA 1000 title to add to her victory in Montreal last year, and she is chasing a third WTA Tour title overall.
In her on-court interview, Mboko said: “Yeah, I mean it’s crazy. She was playing really great tennis from the start, so I felt like I had to step it up.
“I’m happy to be here in the final and I wanna thank everyone who came to support because there’s a lot of people. It’s a lot more each round.”
Asked how she felt physically after playing deciding sets in previous rounds, Mboko said: “I feel pretty good. It’s a part of the game, sometimes you have really long matches, sometimes it can be shorter, but it’s important to rest up and take recovery into perspective and just do everything I can to be ready for tomorrow.”
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Mboko has clinched a major rankings milestone
After reaching the semi-finals in Doha, current world No 13 Mboko climbed three places in the Live WTA Rankings to a new projected career-high ranking of 10th.
If Mboko had lost to Ostapenko, it was possible that she could have been overtaken by Karolina Muchova — who is playing Maria Sakkari in the second semi-final.
However, by reaching the championship match, Mboko has ensured that she will make her top 10 debut when the rankings update next week.
She has moved onto 3,246 points in the live rankings, while Muchova can earn a maximum of 3,058 points if she lifts the title.
If Mboko wins the final, her points total will jump to 3,596, which would see her overtake Elina Svitolina and become the world No 9.
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