The final time we noticed Victoria Mboko on a tennis court docket, she was elevating her dwelling event’s championship trophy earlier than a raucous crowd in Montreal.
The times of Mboko being an upstart participant at the moment are behind her.
The Canadian, who turns 19 on Tuesday, is firmly on the radar of tennis followers after capturing the Nationwide Financial institution Open offered by Rogers. Mboko, who started 2025 exterior the highest 300, enters the US Open foremost draw on Sunday because the No. 22 seed within the ladies’s draw.
Her reward for being a seeded participant for the primary time in a tour-level occasion? A primary-round conflict with two-time Grand Slam champ Barbora Krejcikova on Monday at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT at 14,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium (the second largest court docket on the facility)
The Czech participant, who received Wimbledon final yr and the French Open in 2021, has slipped to No. 61 within the rankings. A again harm stored her out of the Australian Open after which she had consecutive ho-hum performances on the final two majors (second-round loss at French Open, third-round defeat at Wimbledon).
However there was an uptick final week when the previous world No. 2 received three matches at Cincinnati, together with an upset of No. 10 seed Elina Svotilina.
Mboko, in the meantime, withdrew from Cincinnati after her exceptional Montreal triumph. She suffered a wrist harm following a semifinal fall that pressured her to get an MRI (no structural harm) on the morning of the championship match in opposition to four-time Grand Slam champ Naomi Osaka.
Krejcikova hasn’t been nice on the US Open not too long ago, profitable simply three matches the previous three years after a career-best quarterfinal exhibiting in 2021.
However she’s nonetheless a really formidable foe for Mboko, who will not have the identical home-court benefit that appeared to elevate her when occasions bought robust in Montreal.
Here is a take a look at different large storylines on the eve of the yr’s remaining Grand Slam:
Can Canadian males step up on large stage?
Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov and Gabriel Diallo have mixed for 5 event titles this season, but it surely hasn’t been the identical story at majors.
They’ve totalled simply seven match victories within the first three Grand Slams, with no third-round showings.
After the three gamers mixed for only one win on the Nationwide Financial institution Open in Toronto, Auger-Aliassime made a run to the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals, the place he was throttled 6-0, 6-2 by prime seed Jannik Sinner. Diallo additionally misplaced in opposition to the Italian within the third spherical, dropping a second-set tiebreak, whereas Shapovalov was one-and-done in Ohio.
All three Canadian males are seeded in New York.
The Twenty fifth-seeded Auger-Aliassime faces fortunate loser and world No. 151 Billy Harris of Nice Britain in his opener. No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev lurks as a possible third-round match.
The Twenty seventh-seeded Shapovalov squares off with Hungarian veteran Marton Fucsovics, the world No. 94, within the first spherical. Their profession collection is tied 2-2. Sinner is a possible third-round opponent for the winner.
Diallo is seeded for the primary time at a Grand Slam, coming in at No. 31. He’ll face world No. 60 Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Diallo made his US Open debut after qualifying final yr, after which reached the third spherical.
Canada’s Leylah Fernandez has nice recollections of the Massive Apple, recording her profession spotlight when she reached the 2021 US Open remaining.
She hasn’t been capable of attain these heights since then, together with her next-best Grand Slam exhibiting being a quarterfinal berth on the 2022 French Open.
Fernandez appeared to achieve some momentum by profitable the Citi Open title in Washington final month, however then she misplaced her first match at each Montreal and Cincinnati.
The Thirty first-seeded Fernandez will face qualifier Rebecca Marino of Vancouver in a uncommon all-Canadian confrontation at a Grand Slam within the opening spherical on Sunday. Marino, ranked 119th on this planet, can be searching for her first match victory at a serious since attending to the third spherical of the US Open in 2022. Marino received their solely earlier assembly on a hard-court in Mexico in 2022.
Prime seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus might face the Fernandez-Marino winner within the third spherical.
Sabalenka and Sinner captured the US Open titles final yr mere weeks after prevailing on hard-courts in Cincinnati.
Poland’s Iga Swiatek and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz hope that pattern continues this yr after taking the Cinci titles on Monday.
Alcaraz, seeded second in New York, caught a break when Sinner retired due to sickness after falling behind 5-0 within the Cincinnati remaining.
Alcaraz and Sinner have mixed to win the previous seven Grand Slam championships, with the 2 squaring off in a few riveting finals this yr on the French Open (received by Alcaraz) and Wimbledon (the place Sinner triumphed).
Alcaraz has a probably tough US Open first-rounder in opposition to hard-serving American Reilly Opelka on Monday night time at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Swiatek, coming off a Wimbledon title, a Cincinnati overcome Jasmine Paolini and an look within the US Open blended doubles remaining with Casper Ruud, is seeded second behind Sabalenka as she chases her seventh profession Grand Slam title.
Swiatek is within the backside half of the draw with struggling French Open champ Coco Gauff and Australian Open winner Madison Keys. These two People, together with No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula, haven’t discovered their greatest rhythm in the summertime hard-court season.
Sabalenka, in the meantime, might face Denmark’s Clara Tauson within the fourth spherical and Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina within the quarterfinals. Each gamers have wins over Sabalenka this yr and Tauson and Rybakina additionally reached the Montreal semis.
Like Mboko, Osaka skipped Cincinnati after her run to the Montreal remaining.
The Japanese star, in fact, drew some criticism for failing to acknowledging Mboko in her quick on-court speech after the Canadian rallied to win the NBO championship match. She then did not speak to reporters earlier than apologizing to Mboko in a social-media publish the subsequent day.
Seeded twenty third after her breakthrough efficiency in Canada, Osaka opens the US Open in opposition to Greet Minnen of Belgium. Osaka, who took 2023 off tour whereas changing into a mom, received the US Open in 2018 and ’20.
Osaka’s physique language was poor as momentum shifted within the NBO remaining. We’ll see how she responds right here.
As Alcaraz and Sinner have taken over males’s tennis, Novak Djokovic has taken a little bit of a again seat at age 38.
However keep in mind, Djokovic did beat Alcaraz to win Olympic gold in Paris final yr and is the final participant aside from Alcaraz and Sinner to win a Grand Slam — on the 2023 US Open.
The 24-time Grand Slam champ, who threw out a primary pitch at a New York Yankees sport this week, is seeded seventh this yr.
He opens in opposition to rising American teenager Learner Tien, a left-hander, beneath the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday night time.
Tien reached the fourth spherical on the Australian Open, beating Daniil Medvedev en route, and likewise cracked the spherical of 16 on the NBO, the place he knocked out Shapovalov.
Count on the American crowd to essentially get behind their man if he has some early success in opposition to Djokovic.
At age 45, Venus Williams hasn’t closed the books on aggressive tennis simply but. The American star received one match on the Citi Open earlier than dropping within the opening spherical in Cincinnati.
The US Open gave Williams a wild-card, and he or she attracts No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova within the opening spherical on Monday night time.
Muchova has reached the semis in New York the previous two years. She beat Williams of their lone profession assembly within the opening spherical of the US Open in 2020.
