Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko took down top-seeded American Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday, thrilling the home crowd as she reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal.
The 18-year-old wild card saved all four break points she faced, and broke reigning French Open champion Gauff three times on the way to a comprehensive victory in just 62 minutes.
Mboko started the season ranked 333rd in the world and has worked her way up to 85 but the win over Gauff — who she took to three sets in Rome in May — is the biggest win of her career.
“Playing Coco is obviously never easy. She’s number two in the world, and it has been such a great opportunity for me to play against someone like her,” Mboko said. “I was just happy I kept my composure today and I pulled it through.”
Gauff, who had a combined 37 double faults as she struggled through her first two matches, was caught flat-footed as the Canadian teen raced through the first set in 25 minutes.
Gauff buckled down in the second, but she was unable to convert three break chances in the seventh game — coming up short on a drop shot and smacking a forehand into the net on the first two.
She gained anther chance only to hit a service return long, then flew a volley wide to give Mboko a game point, duly converted when Gauff fired a forehand long.
Down 15-30 in the ninth game, Mboko leveled at 30-30 with a blistering backhand, then closed out the hold for a 5-4 lead.
Serving to stay in the match, Gauff fell in a quick 0-30 hole and double-faulted to give Mboko a match point, on which the American hit a backhand into the net.
Mboko will next play Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who won a see-saw battle with China’s Zhu Lin 7-5, 1-6, 6-2.
Rybakina hangs on: Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina out-lasted Dayana Yastremska 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 to book a quarter-final clash with Marta Kostyuk.
Kazakhstan’s Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion who won her first title in more than a year at Strasbourg in May, was slowed by nine double faults.
But she ultimately had enough to get past Ukraine’s Yastremska, breaking her twice in the third set and sealing it on her fourth match point.
She’ll face another Ukrainian in Kostyuk, who came from behind to beat American McCartney Kessler 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
Zverev and Popyrin enter quarter: Top-seeded Alexander Zverev advanced to an ATP Toronto Masters quarter-final against defending champion Alexei Popyrin as his fourth-round opponent Francisco Cerundolo was forced to retire with an abdominal injury on Saturday.
Germany’s Zverev secured a 6-4, 1-0 victory, Argentina’s Cerundolo taking a medical timeout after the fifth game and finally calling a halt after less than an hour on court.
Australia’s Popyrin won his ninth straight match in Canada, beating ninth seed Holger Rune 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The 26th-ranked Aussie profitted from nearly 40 unforced errors from his Danish opponent, who has been taking occasional advice from Andre Agassi. With Popyrin on the horizon, Zverev said he was headed back to the practice court after his abbreviated victory, but he paid tribute to Cerundolo first.
“He’s an incredible player, we have a close personal relationship,” Zverev said of Cerundolo. “I know about abdominal injuries.
“You can’t serve or accelerate on the forehand. He had tears in his eyes when he had to quit. He didn’t want to disappoint the crowd.
“But they can last from a few days to a few months. I have respect for him – he beat me three times before tonight.”
Zverev, the 2017 champion, will be playing his fifth quarter-final in seven Canadian appearance.
Earlier, Popyrin saved a break point with his sixth ace against Rune as he served for victory in the final game, finishing the job with a lob winner which left Rune flat-footed. “This win means a lot,” the Aussie said. “I started the week not high on confidence but I knew my game was there.
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