Doha : Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko moved to the brink of a maiden top-10 ranking after upsetting Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina in the Qatar Open quarter-finals on Thursday.
The 19-year-old battled to a 7-5 4-6 6-4 victory in Doha, ending twice Grand Slam champion Rybakina’s nine-match winning streak and notching her second win over the Kazakh in four meetings.
“Going into the match I knew it was going to be a really hard battle and I wanted to stay calm,” Mboko said.
“I didn’t really have that many expectations because she has a great record now, she just won the Australian Open. Going into the match I knew I had to play my ‘A’ game.
“I do understand that the higher-profile players you play, you’re going to have to raise your level.”
Mboko began the 2025 season ranked outside the top 300 but has since surged to 13th in the world. She became the youngest player since Serena Williams to defeat four major champions in a single tournament when she captured last year’s Canadian Open in Montreal.
She will face former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in Friday’s semi-finals, with victory guaranteeing her a top-10 debut when the new rankings are released on Monday.
“I’m expecting another hard battle,” Mboko said. “She knows these courts well and knows the environment. It’ll be important to put up a fight.”
In the other semi-final, Karolina Muchova meets Maria Sakkari.
