Victoria Mboko believes she knows the reason why she fell short against Karolina Muchova in the Qatar Open final.
Mboko reached her second WTA 1000 final in Doha, as she looked to add to her breakthrough victory at the Canadian Open last year.
However, the 19-year-old was unable to do so, with Mboko being beaten by Muchova in the Qatar Open final.
After losing her second final of the year, Mboko has admitted what Muchova did better than her in the championship match.

Victoria Mboko admits what Karolina Muchova did better than her
Despite losing the first set of the final, Mboko found herself up a break in the second before Muchova fought back to beat her, 6-4 7-5.
When reflecting on her defeat in the post-match press conference, Mboko was trying to take the positives from her week in Doha, but admitted that Muchova played the bigger points better than she did.
“Making it to the finals is generally a positive thing, it’s never a negative,” said Mboko, as reported by wtatennis.com. “She played really great tennis. Playing top 10 players, my first time here too, I didn’t have many expectations (for) myself.
“She was just sharper on the most important points. She was able to stay solid in those points where I think I was missing a lot more than her. She had some really great shots that put me on defense.”
While Mboko has made this claim, she took her only break point, while Muchova converted just three of her eight break points.
However, Muchova was able to win five of the last six games to clinch the biggest title of her career.
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Will Victoria Mboko play at the Dubai Tennis Championships?
Muchova predicted Mboko to win many big titles after beating her in the final of the Qatar Open, and she now has the perfect opportunity to do so in Dubai.
This is the first time that Mboko will play at the Dubai Tennis Championships, with a first round match scheduled against Jaqueline Cristian.
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Some of the threats in Mboko’s half of the draw include Mirra Andreeva, who she beat in Doha, Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula.
| Dubai Tennis Championships 2026 | Victoria Mboko’s Potential Draw |
| First Round | Jaqueline Cristian |
| Second Round | Cristina Bucsa/Ella Seidel |
| Third Round | Mirra Andreeva (5)/Daria Kasatkina/Laura Siegemund |
| Quarterfinal | Amanda Anisimova (2)/Liudmila Samsonova (13)/Leylah Fernandez/Janice Tjen |
| Semifinal | Jessica Pegula (4)/Ekaterina Alexandrova (8)/Clara Tauson (12)/Iva Jovic (16) |
| Final | Elena Rybakina (1)/Coco Gauff (3)/Jasmine Paolini (6)/Elina Svitolina (7) |
However, it is unclear as to whether Mboko will actually play in Dubai after spending nearly 11 hours on court at the Qatar Open.
The Dubai Tennis Championships is already underway, with Qinwen Zheng pulling out at the last-minute, and Mboko’s first round match is likely to take place on Monday, February 16.
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