{"id":88265,"date":"2025-08-07T09:57:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T13:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=88265"},"modified":"2025-08-07T09:57:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T13:57:19","slug":"wta-montreal-final-preview-rising-star-meets-comeback-queen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/08\/07\/wta-montreal-final-preview-rising-star-meets-comeback-queen\/","title":{"rendered":"WTA Montreal Final Preview: Rising Star Meets Comeback Queen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Montreal has set yet another generational challenge as <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/08\/07\/victoria-mboko-rallies-montreal\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Canada\u2019s very own Victoria Mboko<\/a> takes on comeback queen Naomi Osaka in the final. What makes this encounter particularly gripping isn\u2019t just the high stakes of a WTA 1000 title, but everything swirling around both players: form, momentum, legacy, and what lies ahead <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/category\/us-open\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">in New York<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Victoria Mboko: A Star Rises on Home Soil<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>At just 18, Victoria Mboko has gone from a local curiosity to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/08\/03\/who-is-canadian-tennis-sensation-victoria-mboko\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">national phenomenon<\/a> over a dreamlike week. Ranked outside the Top 300 at the start of the season, her meteoric rise into the Top 100 is nothing short of extraordinary. She has proven that her upset over Coco Gauff earlier this week wasn\u2019t a fluke, as she made quick work of Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the quarterfinal before saving a match point to defeat ninth seed Elena Rybakina. Her tennis bore the hallmarks of fearless shot-making, fierce court presence, and a palpable hunger to prove she belongs.<\/p>\n<p>This final represents more than just a chance at silverware for Mboko; it\u2019s a possible record-breaking moment. She will just be the second Canadian to win a WTA 1000 event in the Open Era (after Bianca Andreescu) and will be the tenth player to have won a title of that magnitude in their teens.<\/p>\n<p>Playing in front of a home crowd in Montreal, she has the energy of a nation behind her. But with that support comes the weight of expectation. Should she lift the trophy, she wouldn\u2019t just be Canada\u2019s next big thing&#8211;she\u2019d be now. And with the US Open on the horizon, a win here would catapult her into that conversation as a genuine dark horse in New York.<\/p>\n<p><a  id=\"DLw9okPfRglQF-Y9945LIg\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2228121928\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" 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:'DLw9okPfRglQF-Y9945LIg',sig:'jyXJmLy9lQ17ZYjeQJCh8gAdbxzB_ukdVTw1yT80zfY=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2228121928',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Naomi Osaka: A Champion\u2019s Road Back<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>On the other side of the net is four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who has battled through more than just tennis matches over the past two years. After stepping away from the sport to focus on mental health and motherhood, Osaka\u2019s return in 2024 has been deliberate and emotionally charged. This run in Montreal marks her first WTA final since her hiatus, and she\u2019s done it with a mix of trademark power and newfound maturity.<\/p>\n<p>For Osaka, this final is a powerful checkpoint in a journey of personal and professional rediscovery. A win wouldn\u2019t just be a confidence boost; it would signal to the tennis world that she\u2019s ready to contend at the highest level again. It would also mark her first WTA 1000 title since Miami 2022, ending a title drought that once seemed indefinite.<\/p>\n<p>With the US Open&#8211;a tournament she\u2019s won twice&#8211;looming, Montreal could be the spark that reignites her Grand Slam fire.<\/p>\n<p><a  id=\"eBaNkAibRJB6CfcIRzZIkQ\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2228133832\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" 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:'eBaNkAibRJB6CfcIRzZIkQ',sig:'hQcqjn9vRun9_OXU7RNtfCvWqGCyXzn3Tx2LkwaIYtM=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2228133832',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4><strong>What\u2019s at Stake Beyond the Trophy<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>While Osaka will be attempting to reclaim her place in the top echelons of the sport, Mboko will need to channel her energy without letting the moment overwhelm her. She\u2019s playing against not just a decorated opponent, but a crowd that might waver between patriotic support and global admiration for the Japanese superstar. The teenager\u2019s serve and ability to hold her nerve in big moments will be key.<\/p>\n<p>Victory for the Canadian would be the most significant moment of her career thus far. Not many have won a WTA 1000 event as a teen, and a title in Montreal could propel her into the US Open as a seeded player or, at the very least, someone no one wants to face in the first week.<\/p>\n<p>For Osaka, it would be tangible proof that she\u2019s back, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, competitively. With the US Open just weeks away, lifting the trophy in Montreal would send a warning to the rest of the field: the queen may have stepped away, but she\u2019s back for her crown.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, whether it\u2019s Mboko\u2019s moment of arrival or Osaka\u2019s triumphant revival, Montreal is about to witness a match layered with meaning, emotion, and the promise of more to come.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Montreal has set yet another generational challenge as Canada\u2019s very own Victoria Mboko takes on comeback queen Naomi Osaka in the final. What makes this encounter particularly gripping isn\u2019t just the high stakes of a WTA 1000 title, but everything swirling around both players: form, momentum, legacy, and what lies ahead in New York. Victoria [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4883,"featured_media":62280,"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":[2,4],"tags":[3553,2747,5595,18955,476,16592,18059,16576],"class_list":["post-88265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-wta","tag-bianca-andreescu","tag-coco-gauff","tag-elena-rybakina","tag-jessica-bouzas-maneiro","tag-naomi-osaka","tag-national-bank-open","tag-victoria-mboko","tag-wta-montreal"],"modified_by":"Yesh Ginsburg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88265","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\/4883"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88265"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88270,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88265\/revisions\/88270"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}