victoria mboko
Victoria Mboko made the most of her second chance.
Given a spot in the main draw on the second day of Wimbledon competition as a lucky loser, the Canadian teenager upset No. 25 seed Magdalena Frech of Poland 6-3, 6-2 on Tuesday in the first round.
Mboko learned she’d be playing just hours before the match after Anastasia Potapova withdrew.
Mboko, 18, lost in the third and final round of Wimbledon qualifying last week before getting her lucky break, allowing her to make her debut at the grass-court Grand Slam.
The Canadian has had a breakout season this year, reaching the third round of the French Open in her Grand Slam debut after qualifying. She has reached No. 95 in the rankings.
Meanwhile, Denis Shapovalov is heading home early from the All England Club.
The 27th-seeded Canadian dropped his first-round match against unseeded Argentine Mariano Navone 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.
Shapovalov, 26, fired six aces to Navone’s one but also double-faulted 11 times in the loss while being broken on six occasions.
It’s his earliest exit from the grass-court Grand Slam since 2019, when he also fell in the first round.
On Monday, fellow Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime, Gabriel Diallo and Leylah Fernandez advanced to the second round.