Victoria Mboko has now reached the semifinals of the Canadian Open after beating Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
Mboko has dramatically climbed the WTA rankings this year, and was already an exciting young prospect prior to the Canadian Open.
The WTA 1000 tournament has taken the hype surrounding the Canadian teenager to another level, including Mboko beating Coco Gauff in straight sets.
Mboko has backed up her victory over Gauff, but it now means she has less time to prepare for the Cincinnati Open.
Victoria Mboko suggests if she could pull out of the Cincinnati Open
Mboko is predicted to become a top five player, but for the Cincinnati Open she is guaranteed to be unseeded.
This means that the 18-year-old will not be able to get a bye to the second round and will likely have to play her first round match on either Thursday, August 7 or Friday, August 8.
After beating Bouzas Maneiro, 6-4 6-2, Mboko was asked in her post-match press conference if she is still planning to play at the Cincinnati Open.
While she did not give a definitive answer, Mboko suggested that withdrawing is a definite possibility depending on how many more matches she plays in Montreal.
“Well, right now, I mean, I’m entered in, but I’m not sure,” said Mboko. “I want to see how I’m going to do here first. It’s still up in the air. Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know.”
If she decides not to withdraw before then, Mboko will find out her fate when the Cincinnati Open draw takes place on Tuesday, August 5.
Victoria Mboko gives her verdict on the expanded WTA 1000 tournaments
The Canadian Open has received a lot of backlash this year for a plethora of reasons, with the expansion of the event to 12 days being a significant factor.
Alexander Zverev believes no player likes these new ATP/WTA 1000 events, but Mboko has admitted that she is yet to decide how she feels and is enjoying having a day between matches.
“The 12-day thing, to be honest, because everything is so new to me, I really haven’t had time to even think about what my stance is on that,” explained Mboko.
“I mean, right now it feels good that I have days off in between and it feels nice, but you know, there’s a tournament coming up really soon next week. But right now I’m honestly just focused on this week right now. I didn’t have time to even think about it.”
This is only the third WTA 1000 tournament that Mboko has played in her young career, and she has now won five matches in a row.
While Mboko admitted she was not feeling fresh, she reassured fans that she still had energy in the tank for her potential remaining matches.
“Well, I mean, I don’t feel fresh, you know, but I also don’t feel so tired,” said Mboko. “I think it helps that we had a day in between every single day to kind of regroup and collect myself.
“No, every day I’ve just been doing what I needed to do to recover well. Most of the days has been the night match, so I do have a lot of time in the day to, like, take naps and do what I need to do to prepare for the night. Yeah, I think I feel pretty okay right now.”
Mboko has already ensured that she will make her top 50 debut after the Canadian Open is over, and she will look to continue this rise when she plays Elena Rybakina in the semifinals.
This is the second consecutive tournament that they will play one another, with Rybakina beating Mboko in straight sets at the Washington Open.
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