Battle of the Rising Teens: Victoria Mboko Exacts Revenge on Mirra Andreeva in Doha Thriller

Nobody ever accused Canada’s Victoria Mboko of being a slow learner.

Just over a month after being solidly defeated by Mirra Andreeva in the Adelaide final, the 19-year-old Canadian has supplied a retort. The Montreal native saved a match point and rallied past the World No. 7, 6-3 3-6 7-6(5) at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha.

“I know it’s not easy to play Mirra. I’ve known her for such a long time, and I know what she can bring to the tennis court, so I’m really glad to have gotten the win today and pushed through,” said 13th-ranked Mboko, who is making her tournament debut in Doha.

Fresh off a round of 16 appearance on her Australian Open debut last month, Mboko moves on to face the Elena Rybakina vs. Zheng Qinwen winner in the quarterfinals. She earns her third career Top-10 win and reaches the quarterfinals at a WTA 1000 event for the second time.

The Canadian says that watching Andreeva, whom she is approximately seven months older than, rise so quickly up the rankings in the last two years has been an inspiration.

“Seeing her do so well at such a young age, it’s very motivating,” Mboko said. “Knowing her for such a long time, it was nice. When I kind of made my way to the tour, having someone who I knew and could kind of relate to in a way, it was really nice.

“I can definitely see myself playing her a lot more in the future. She’s just really nice to have around.”

Andreeva held a match point while serving for the win in the third set at 5-4, but tossed in a double-fault at the worst moment.

Mboko, who has now won 13 of her last 14 three-set matches since last summer, was broken while serving at 4-4 in the third set against fifth-seeded Andreeva. An unforced error followed by her second double-fault of the game gave Andreeva the break.

After Andreeva double-faulted on match point, Mboko used her wheels to earn her second break point of the game, then fired a forehand to end a cagey rally, securing her sixth break point of the match.

In the ensuing tiebreak, Mboko raced from 3-3 to 6-3, and converted her third match point to finally put the match to rest in two hours and 10 minutes, with a stunning inside-out backhand winner.

Mboko started the match on a heater, leading 3-0, but was reeled back to three-all before she won the final three games of the set.

In the second set Andreeva held the advantage early, and it was her turn to race through the final three games of the set after being reeled back by Mboko.

The Canadian finished with 38 winners against 45 unforced errors, while Andreeva managed 19 winners against 32 unforced errors. Both players earned six breaks in the match, and Mboko edged the total points won, 96-94.

“She had a match point in her service game, and the tiebreaker was also very close. I feel like I came out with some very clutch shots at the end,” Mboko said. “I think we both were pretty tired when it came to the tiebreak. I think I felt like I was lucky enough to have some good shots in the great moments.”