{"id":80184,"date":"2025-02-23T08:15:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-23T13:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=80184"},"modified":"2025-02-22T20:19:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T01:19:45","slug":"mboko-the-unstoppable-18-year-old-taking-2025-by-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/02\/23\/mboko-the-unstoppable-18-year-old-taking-2025-by-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"Victoria Mboko: The Unstoppable 18-Year-Old Taking 2025 by Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Who has two thumbs and is still unbeaten in 2025? If <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/02\/15\/jannik-sinner-three-month-ban-wada\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Jannik Sinner<\/a> came to mind, you\u2019re not wrong\u2014but he\u2019s not the only one. While the Australian Open champion has won just seven matches this year, another player has gone on an even more dominant run, winning all 22 of her matches without dropping a single set.<\/p>\n<p>Her name is Victoria Mboko. She\u2019s Canadian, just 18, and making a statement on the tennis circuit. While her results may seem surprising, calling them a complete shock would be unfair. A former junior world No. 6, Mboko also reached two junior Grand Slam doubles finals last year. Now, she\u2019s proving that her success was no fluke.<\/p>\n<h2>The Breakthrough<\/h2>\n<p>Anyone who didn\u2019t see her rise coming probably wasn\u2019t paying close enough attention. Mboko opened her 2025 season with a dominant double bagel in her first match. She nearly repeated the feat in her second (6-0, 6-2) and claimed her first title of the year at the W35 in Le Lamentin (Martinique).<\/p>\n<p>For those still questioning her, she responded emphatically in her second tournament of the season, another W35 in Petit-Bourg (Guadeloupe). She lifted the trophy again and dropped just 17 games across five matches, delivering three bagels along the way without needing a single tiebreak or even a 7-5 set. As the saying goes, good things come in threes, and Mboko proved it by securing a third consecutive title at the W75 in Rome (USA).<\/p>\n<p>Qualifying was a mere formality, but her first real challenge came in the opening round against Iva Jovic, a fellow rising star who had won a main-draw match at the Australian Open (6-2, 6-1 over Parrizas Diaz) before losing to Rybakina. Mboko handled the test in straight sets and continued her streak in dominant fashion\u2014including a commanding 6-0, 6-0 win in one of her later matches.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"zKzDfClGTNJzM9mzzQIbeg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2152097729\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'zKzDfClGTNJzM9mzzQIbeg',sig:'y3Y10Y_BYcF-HjPwcBTTQPj13OhdM2FzWwUJ2CE6Zy0=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2152097729',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>A rising star on an unstoppable streak<\/h3>\n<p>As her ranking climbed, so did the attention. But that didn\u2019t stop Mboko from capturing a fourth title at the W35 in Manchester (UK). She stormed through the draw with scores of 6-2, 6-1; 6-4, 6-3; 6-2, 6-3; and 6-4, 6-1. Her toughest test came in the final against top seed Manon Leonard, who had two set points in the opening set. Yet again, it was Mboko, 7-6, 6-2, keeping her incredible unbeaten streak alive at 22 matches.<\/p>\n<h3>Unexpected success<\/h3>\n<p>Reflecting on her stunning start to the season, Mboko admitted even she hadn\u2019t predicted this level of success.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I was feeling pretty confident going into the tournaments in the Caribbean. And yeah, I felt pretty loose. I was pretty confident with my game. Honestly, if I had told myself before all this happened that I\u2019d win three tournaments in a row, I would have been like, <em>What are you talking about?<\/em> I like to take things day by day because you never know,\u201d she told <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NWEVPtYegTw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Match Point Canada<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, it wasn\u2019t all smooth sailing from the start:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I started the year, my first couple of matches were a little shaky. There were things I needed to improve on. I think I\u2019ve become a lot more aggressive, really focusing on taking control of the court. It was working, so I wanted to stay locked in. I also put a lot of emphasis on my footwork. My serve has helped me a lot, especially in tough moments. In girls\u2019 tennis, it\u2019s really crucial to hold serve because breaks come easily. That\u2019s been a huge factor for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"_br9Zh1VSyBSwzp1_AZ1hg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2152096204\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'_br9Zh1VSyBSwzp1_AZ1hg',sig:'3kt2h6TYq8E-QPLtJHv3ApEinqCBGqmleigEyH84BWo=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2152096204',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>The Real Challenge? Getting the Trophies Home<\/h3>\n<p>Mboko\u2019s biggest logistical challenge wasn\u2019t on the court\u2014it was figuring out how to transport all her trophies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter the first two weeks in the Caribbean, I had a week off in Montreal, so I met up with my dad there,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He took my trophies home, but they didn\u2019t fit in his suitcase, so he had to carry them on the plane. He was really careful with them, stacking them up. I just let him deal with it\u2014and now they\u2019re home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With an unbeaten streak, four titles, and undeniable momentum, Victoria Mboko is proving she\u2019s not just a rising star\u2014she\u2019s a force to be reckoned with in 2025.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Main Photo Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran &#8211; USA TODAY Sports<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who has two thumbs and is still unbeaten in 2025? If Jannik Sinner came to mind, you\u2019re not wrong\u2014but he\u2019s not the only one. While the Australian Open champion has won just seven matches this year, another player has gone on an even more dominant run, winning all 22 of her matches without dropping a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5454,"featured_media":75965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[3794,292,5577,3914,18059,364],"class_list":["post-80184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wta","category-featured","tag-canada","tag-canadian-tennis","tag-canadian-tennis-players","tag-rising-star","tag-victoria-mboko","tag-wta-tour"],"modified_by":"Shane Black","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5454"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80184"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80201,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80184\/revisions\/80201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}