Tennis

Toronto teen Victoria Mboko qualifies for Italian Open main draw with comeback win

Canada's Victoria Mboko qualified for the Italian Open main draw Tuesday with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 comeback win in Rome over ninth-seeded Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia.

18-year-old fired six aces and won 70 per cent of her 1st-serve points in Rome

Canadian tennis player Victoria Mboko hits a return against Japan's Ena Shibahara during the first women's singles match against Japan in Tokyo on April 13, 2025 at the Billie Jean King Cup Group A qualifier.
After Tuesday's three-set win over Kamilla Rakhimova, Canada's Victoria Mboko, pictured, will make just her second appearance in a WTA 1000 main draw, having reached the second round in Miami in March. (Richard A. Brooks/AFP via Getty Images/File)

Canada's Victoria Mboko qualified for the Italian Open main draw Tuesday with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 comeback win in Rome over ninth-seeded Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia.

The 18-year-old from Toronto fired six aces, won 70 per cent of her first-serve points and broke Rakhimova six times.

Mboko took control after the first set, winning 12 of the final 14 games to finish the match in just over two hours.

She'll make just her second appearance in a WTA 1000 main draw, having reached the second round in Miami in March.

Mboko, ranked 158th in the world, has compiled a 32-3 record this season while racking up five titles on the lower-tier ITF circuit.

She's set to face Italian wild card Arianna Zucchini, ranked No. 620, in the opening round.

Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu will also represent Canada in the women's singles draw, with Gabriel Diallo, Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime entered on the men's side.

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