Victoria Mboko was one of the WTA’s best fairytale stories of 2026, and that unlikely success made her the deserved winner of a prestigious end-of-year accolade.
She, alongside Indonesian talent Janice Tjen, was recognised as one of the ITF’s Class of 2025, a group branded as ‘breakthrough’ talents of the sport.
These are expected to be the stars of the future, yet Victoria Mboko, at just 19 years of age, has already showcased that she is ready to compete now.
That was exemplified best in Montreal, where she shocked the tennis world to win her maiden Masters 1000 title.
The hope is that the Canadian talent can kick on further in 2026. Her coach is certainly expecting her to.
Victoria Mboko’s coach rates her level
Speaking in an interview with ClayTenis, Nathalie Tauziat was blunt but fair in her assessment of Mboko’s game.
Asked where she needs the biggest improvement, she did not hold back, noting: “Well, she has to work on many aspects — serve, forehand, backhand, same things as usual, we have to improve her game as a whole. Also, she needs to get better physically, small details when it comes to movement. We’ve got time.”
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However, she naturally reserved special praise for that run in her home country. Speaking about whether she expected anything like what she managed, Tauziat added: “No, absolutely not.
“The tournament in Canada is always important, and we knew she was going to get a wild card. Doing well there was one of the goals for this year, and she did way more than we expected. We were really happy. The key was thinking only about the next match, about what comes next, and she did what she did.
“If someone had told me she was going to win a big tournament like this at the beginning of the year, I would’ve probably said: ‘Listen, we have to go step by step.” But she did this amazing thing, and now we need to set even bigger objectives, for sure. She is top 20 in the world, but she needs to improve her game further.”
Victoria Mboko has been compared to Coco Gauff
In bold fashion, Mboko recently named the WTA player she wants to play in 2026. Despite being so young and still so fresh on the tour, this teenage star seems more than ready to compete with the very best on tour.
And, given the way in which she has already established herself at just 19, it’s no surprise that the comparisons to Coco Gauff emerged.
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However, the American was quick to shut down those claims after Mboko beat her during her run to the Canadian Open title.
The two-time Grand Slam champion claimed: “No, she’s a completely different player, completely different person. I’ve never been one to compare myself to others, whether it be like people comparing me to Serena or Venus, and I don’t think it’s fair to put that on her as well. Yeah, but I do see someone who is going to have a really bright future, for sure.”
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