When it takes number one to stop you, you know you’re playing great tennis.
That’s what happened to Victoria Mboko in her first appearance at the Australian Open last week, as the Canadian teenager continued her rise in the WTA rankings.
Here’s what you need to know.
In case you missed it: Mboko continues to improve at the Australian Open
The Australian Open was the last major tournament that Victoria Mboko made her professional debut, and it was there that she achieved her best result. The 17th seed looked perfectly at home at Melbourne Park, reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam event for the first time in his career.
Mboko did not lose a set in his first two matches against Emerson Jones and Caty McNally. She then eliminated the 14th seed, Clara Tauson, after a thrilling three-set duel. She thus surpassed her best result in Grand Slam tournaments, which was a third round at Roland Garros last year.
In the fourth round, world number one Aryna Sabalenka ended the young Canadian’s run in two sets.
Despite the defeat, Mboko will nevertheless reach the best ranking of his career. She should enter the Top 15, and could even climb to 13th place.
Mboko’s performance put a damper on the Canadian singles performances in this first major tournament of the year. Indeed, only Denis Shapovalov also made it past the first round, beating Yunchaokete Bu before losing in the second round to Marin Cilic.
The other five Canadians in singles were all eliminated in the first round. Gabriel Diallo fell to world third Alexander Zverev, while Liam Draxl lost to Damir Dzumhur for his debut in a Grand Slam tournament. Leylah Annie Fernandez was surprised by Janice Tjen. Félix Auger-Aliassime and Marina Stakusic both retired in the first round due to heat-related cramps.
Canada had slightly more success in doubles.
Gabriela Dabrowski is still in contention in women’s doubles, and reached the quarterfinals in her first tournament of the meeting with Luisa Stefani. The fifth seeds have yet to lose a round, posting wins over McCartney Kessler and Jessica Pegula, Emiliana Arango and Elsa Jacquemot, as well as ninth seeds Cristina Busca and Nicole Melichar Martinez.
Read also: A Canadian Pioneer – Celebrating the Exceptional Career of Milos Raonic
Busca and Melichar Martinez had eliminated Fernandez and Timea Babos in the first round in three rounds. Mboko advanced to the second round of doubles with Iva Jovic, another young prodigy, before losing 12-10 in the third set tiebreak to fourth seeds Elise Mertens and Shuai Zheng.
Fernandez secured a mixed doubles victory in Melbourne with Nick Kyrgios. In the first round, they got the better of Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski 12-10 in the super tiebreaker. However, they lost in the next round to Anna Danilina and JJ Tracy.
In mixed doubles, Dabrowski teamed with Great Britain’s Luke Johnson, but they lost to Australians Maya Joint and Matthew Romios in the curtain-raiser.
Click here for more news from the ATP and WTA Tours.
Don’t miss: Shaw’s final lap in Melbourne
Rob Shaw, Canada’s most successful wheelchair tennis player, will compete in his final professional tournament at the Australian Open this week. He will compete in the singles and double quad events, with the Brazilian Ymanitu Silva.
The draw was not kind to Shaw, as he will face second seed Sam Schroder in singles. In doubles, the Canadian and his Brazilian partner will face Gregory Slade and Benjamin Wenzel in the first round. If they win this meeting, they could cross swords with favorites Guy Sasson and Niels Vink in the semi-final.
Shaw is the Canadian player who has won the most titles in wheelchair tennis, with 54 ITF trophies (singles and doubles).
Gabriela Dabrowski, seeking a third major women’s doubles title and her first in Melbourne, will face a familiar opponent, Jelena Ostapenko and her partner Su-Wei Hsieh, in the quarter-final. Ostapenko has beaten Dabrowski in Melbourne for the past two years, each time in the semi-finals. Last year, alongside Hsieh, the Latvian eliminated the Canadian and Erin Routliffe in three hotly contested rounds.
Read also: Alcaraz, Sinner and Swiatek in search of historic feat in 2026
If they manage to defeat Ostapenko, Dabrowski and Stefani could face favorites Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend in the semi-finals, if the latter overcome seventh seeds Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic.
The only other Canadian still competing in Melbourne is Nadia Lagaev, who is competing in the junior events. The 14th singles seed won her first round match in straight sets and will face Antonia Stoyanov in the next round. She could face third seed Ksenia Efremova in the third round.
In doubles, Lagaev forms the eighth best team with Ukrainian Antonina Sushkova. The two young players have reached the second round and will now face the Americans Chukwumelije Clarke and Nancy Lee. There is only one other seed left in their half of the draw, Mariella Thamm and Ruien Zhang (5th), who could be their opponents in the semi-final.
Dani Szabo took part in the boys’ doubles, but lost in the initial round.
Under the radar: Harper in the winner’s circle
This weekend, Canada’s top men’s doubles player, Cleeve Harper, won his first title of the year at the Challenger in Oeiras, Portugal, alongside Britain’s David Stevenson.
The duo reached the final without losing a set, but had to draw on their reserves to overcome the Portuguese Francisco Rocha and Tiago Torres. Harper and Stevenson managed to keep their composure and won the super tiebreaker 12-10 to clinch the title.
This is Harper’s seventh title on the ATP Challenger Tour. He will try to add an eighth this week in Oeiras as part of another Challenger tournament. His Davis Cup teammate, Alexis Galarneau, will also be there.
Bianca Andreescu’s bid to win back-to-back ITF Tour titles fell just short last week in Weston, Florida. The former US Open champion lost in the semi-finals of the W35 tournament in three sets to future champion Akasha Urhobo.
This week, Andreescu takes part in a W75 class event in Vero Beach, Florida.
Several Canadians, including Davis Cup team member Liam Draxl, are participating in the mixed tournament (ATP Challenger/ITF W100) in San Diego this week.
You can follow the Canadians every week by clicking ici.
The Davis Cup returns to Canada in February. Team Canada will host Brazil in the first round of qualifying in Vancouver on February 6-7 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Center at the University of British Columbia.
Photo vedette : Martin Sidorjak
