Mboko

MONTREAL — With her back against the wall and an injured right wrist making her hand feel “numb” at times, Victoria Mboko refused to wilt.

Along with the sizzling serve and booming backhand that tennis fans have learned about over these past 12 remarkable days, we now know this 18-year-old Canadian has the fight of a champion.

Showcasing the kind of grit that Canadians crave in their favourite athletes, Mboko won one of the most dramatic tennis matches you’ll ever see on Wednesday — an instant classic in front of an ear-splitting, sellout crowd.

Fighting off one match point and an aching wrist after a hard fall early in the third set, Mboko advanced to the National Bank Open presented by Rogers final with a 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) win over No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan before a sellout crowd at IGA Stadium.

“The words can not even describe how I feel right now,” Mboko told Sportsnet’s Danielle Michaud on court, minutes after a two-hour, 46-minute nailbiter that marked the longest match of her WTA career. “Nothing would have ever prepared me to be in the final. If you would have told me last year that I was going to be in the final here, I would have said you’re crazy.

“I’m truly a believer of you can do anything you aspire to do. The sky’s always the limit. I think that’s just how I like to go about things.”

In one of the most improbable finals in NBO history, a teenager ranked outside the top 300 at the start of the year will face a resurgent Naomi Osaka on Thursday night. The four-time Grand Slam champ, who took a leave in 2023 while having her first child, hadn’t reached a Slam or WTA 1000 quarterfinal in 19 months before this tournament. The unseeded Osaka beat No. 16 Clara Tauson of Denmark 6-2, 7-6 (7) in the second semifinal.

“It’s incredible, (Mboko is) super young, she’s super talented,” the Japanese star told Michaud in her on-court interview. “I saw her playing in DC against Rybakina (two weeks ago), she lost that match but I thought she was very impressive and obviously she’s playing well here.”

The big question might revolve around Mboko’s wrist. After the awkward fall behind the baseline following a shot in the second game of the second set, Mboko told her player’s box her hand was feeling numb, Michaud reported. She took a medical timeout to get it taped and was shaking her wrist at times before that.

Adrenaline, of course, can be wonderful medicine. The crowd willed her on, pushing Mboko to leave it all on the court. She fought off one match point with Rybakina serving up 5-4 and then nailed two strong returns for the break to stay in it. The entire crowd then rose, roaring “Vicky, Vicky, Vicky.” Two games later, Mboko broke the 2022 Wimbledon champ again to force the tiebreak.

“Even though I had that little accident in the beginning of the third set, I wanted to really forget about it,” Mboko told Michaud. “I was so locked in that at some point the pain kind of went away.”

How was she doing about an hour later?

“It’s feeling a lot better,” she said. “When I fell, of course, in the match, it was a lot of emotions. It was during the match, a lot of adrenaline. It was kind of a little bit painful doing that. But it’s definitely cooled down a lot more. I’m going to take care of it tonight and just have some rest.”

One would think it would be hard to sleep after an unforgettable showdown.

It looked like this dream run was going to end after Rybakina needed only 31 minutes to win a one-sided first set. The Canadian lost all three service games, previously a huge strength, and had no answers against a player with the same kind of firepower as her.

Mboko, in building up a 52-9 record this year, has made a habit of dictating points with her power game. But on this night, after that sketchy first set, it was her defence that stood out against the WTA’s leader in aces this year.

“I think she was playing really great and I kind of put in my head that I want to stay in there with her and I want to bring as many balls back in the court as I possibly could, despite (the fact) she was hitting a really hitting a clean and hard ball,” Mboko said. “I think I just had that kind of mentality in the second set and it really helped me get through a lot of difficult points.”

The point of the match may well have been one Mboko lost — but the way she lost it spoke volumes. Up 4-3 in the final tiebreak, Mboko was on the defensive for much of a 25-shot rally with Rybakina. She made three great gets and almost a fourth when, reaching back while her momentum was carrying her the other way, sailed a lob just long.

It was the last point Mboko would lose on the night. She followed with a blistering forehand winner before Rybakina missed a backhand. On match point, Mboko reached out on her backhand to get a racket on a hard Rybakina serve before Rybakina fired the next shot long.

“I wanted to stay really calm as well because it’s an incredibly stressful moment,” Mboko said when asked about the marathon point to lock up the tiebreak. “I feel I’ve been in situations where the score was tight and I kind of panicked a little bit. I really wanted to calm myself down and just forget about the last point and always focus on the next.”

Speaking of next, Mboko has a chance to become just the third Canadian champion in this event in the Open era (since 1968). When the rankings change after Thursday’s final, she’ll be 35th if she loses or 25th if she wins.

One year ago this week, while the world’s best women were playing in her hometown of Toronto, Mboko was playing in a tiny tournament in Croatia. She lost her first match to then-world No. 560 Eszter Meri in straight sets. The Slovakian is currently ranked 833rd, not even in the same universe as her opponent from that day.

“I actually didn’t think of it until now,” Mboko said when asked about, against all odds, possibly winning the title. “Of course I have the opportunity to lift that beautiful trophy. I still have one match to go. I’m always kind of focused on the present moment. I don’t really focus on the end. It’s obviously a vision I would like to see and that’s what I’m playing for.”

No matter what happens Thursday, this sensational semifinal will go down as one of the great matches played on a Canadian court.

When Rybakina’s final shot went long, Mboko threw her racket, bent down and put her hands on the court as the crowd went into hysterics.

The emotion was sky high as Mboko approached her box. After coach Nathalie Tauziat repeatedly pointed to her own head to credit Mboko for thinking her way through this amazing challenge as her player approached, the two embraced in a moment they can cherish forever.

“When I had that winning point and I won, I really couldn’t believe it because at some point, I feel like I kind of lost a little bit and she was really dominating,” Mboko said. “To have gone through what I have gone through in the third set and to win it on the match point just felt really great.”