Canadian stars Victoria Mboko and Leylah Fernandez kicked off their campaigns in style at the Citi Open hardcourt tennis tournament on Monday.
Mboko, a wild-card entry hailing from Toronto, staged a remarkable comeback from a second-set deficit, securing a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Russia’s Anastasia Potapova.
Following suit, Fernandez clinched her match with a decisive 6-3, 6-3 win against Australia’s Maya Joint.
The 18-year-old Mboko displayed dominance, winning 62.7% of her total service points, compared to Potapova’s 50%.
Mboko had 13 opportunities to break Potapova’s serve, successfully converting five—most crucially in the final game. Potapova managed to break Mboko twice out of six chances.
Now operating at a career-high ranking of 86, Mboko is set to face Kazakhstan’s No. 12 Elena Rybakina in the next round of the WTA 500 tournament.
This season, she has significantly improved her record to an impressive 46-8, marking her fourth win against a top-50 opponent as she gears up for her main-draw debut at the prestigious WTA 1000-level National Bank Open in Montreal.
In a blistering 80-minute match, Fernandez from Laval, Que., unleashed five aces and broke Joint three times out of seven opportunities.
Ranked 36th globally, the 22-year-old Fernandez successfully defended against the only break point she encountered.
Her next challenge lies against top-seed Jessica Pegula of the United States, who has bested Fernandez in their two previous hardcourt encounters.
In first-round doubles action, Eugenie Bouchard from Westmount, Que., is poised to team up with Clervie Ngounoue of the U.S. to take on the American duo of Venus Williams and Hailey Baptiste.
The 31-year-old Bouchard, a former world No. 5 and Wimbledon finalist in 2014, is competing in her penultimate tournament, having announced her retirement plans following the National Bank Open.
Meanwhile, the 45-year-old Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, is making her comeback after spending over a year away from the sport.
