Victoria Mboko made her debut at the Adelaide tennis tournament on Monday with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Beatriz Haddad Maia.
The Canadian, 8th seed in the last preparatory tournament before the Australian Open, took two hours and eight minutes to overcome the Brazilian. The Ontarian has a 2-1 record against the 39th player in the world.
It’s never easy against her
admitted Mboko on the court. She is very talented. It was a difficult match. So, to overcome this obstacle today, it’s a relief.
She has a good range of shots, she is very dynamic and hits a very heavy ball. Honestly, I was just trying not to get pushed around. She hit some really good shots, so I have to take my hat off to her. In the end, I wanted to stay in the match as much as possible, and I fought very hard on every point.
she indicated.
This result set the table for a second round duel against the Russian Anna Kalinskaya, who sharply ousted the Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-0, 6-3. In their last duel, in the quarter-finals in Hong Kong in 2025, Mboko led 6-1, 3-1 when the Russian gave up.
This was Mboko’s first singles tournament on the circuit. WTA since that of Hong Kong, which she won, in November 2025. And her start to the match was not very easy. Far from it.
Trailing 5-6 in the first set, she committed her first two double faults of the match to offer a first break point to her rival, who converted it to win the set.
The representative of the maple leaf, however, did not give up and quickly regained her composure. In the last two sets, Mboko hit 18 winners, against only 9 unforced errors, and she converted 6 of her 7 break points.
The 19-year-old, winner of the National Bank Open in Montreal in 2025, also found her serving touch, placing 82% of her first balls in play in the second set, and finishing the match with an average of 76%. This formidable efficiency prevented Haddad Maia from coming back to score.
Fernandez eliminated
For her part, Quebecer Leylah Annie Fernandez, 22nd racket in the world, was eliminated by Russian Diana Shnaider, 11th player in the world, in two sets of 7-5, 6-3.
Fernandez hit two aces, but committed four double faults. The Canadian had three break points, but was unable to convert one, unlike the Russian, who broke Fernandez twice in eight occasions.
The Quebecer did not do badly on her serve, winning 70% of the points contested on her first ball, but her opponent was uncompromising in this aspect, with 85% success.
On the men’s side, Quebecer Gabriel Diallo, 41st, will begin his singles career in Adelaide this evening against Italian Andrea Vavassori, 336th.
