Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko has booked her spot in the Omnium Banque Nationale final after a sensational three-set comeback against former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, setting up a headline-worthy clash with four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka.
The 18-year-old wildcard, ranked 85th in the world, stunned the Montreal crowd on Wednesday night with a gritty 1-6 7-5 7-6(4) win over the ninth seed. After a shaky opening set and facing match point in the second, Mboko turned the tide to secure the biggest victory of her career and reach her first WTA 1000 final.
Her road to the final has been nothing short of remarkable. Earlier in the tournament, Mboko defeated top-seeded American Coco Gauff and former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, which means that she has defeated three Grand Slam champions this fortnight in Canada. Starting 2025 ranked 333rd, the Canadian phenom began her season with a 22-match winning streak on the second-tier ITF Tour and is now poised to break into the world’s Top 50 when rankings are updated.
Awaiting her in the final is Naomi Osaka, who took down 16th seed Clara Tauson 6-2 7-6(7) in a tightly contested semifinal. The Japanese star, returning to form following her maternity leave, looked dominant in the first set, breaking Tauson twice. But the second set was a tug-of-war, with Osaka losing and regaining the lead before edging out the Dane in a tense tiebreak.
Tauson held two set points at 6-4 in the breaker, threatening to push the match into a third set. Osaka, however, held her nerve and fought back, eventually sealing the match on her second match point to reach her first WTA 1000 final since 2022.
This will be the first-ever meeting between Osaka and Mboko, a matchup pitting a rising hometown sensation against one of the sport’s most accomplished champions. Osaka will be chasing her biggest title since returning to the tour (she won the WTA 125 clay event in Saint-Malo in May), while Mboko is aiming to cap off her breakthrough week with an unforgettable victory on home soil.
The final will take place Thursday in Montreal.
