Saturday's action in Montreal delivered a loud upset, as 18-year-old Victoria Mboko eliminated the top seed of the WTA 1000 event, Coco Gauff, winning convincingly 6-1 6-4 after an outstanding performance. Despite this unexpectedly one-sided victory by the Canadian, the three remaining matches brought plenty of emotion, all being settled in three sets.
Mboko stuns Gauff in front of the home crowd
On paper, this was a major upset. But considering the trends in both players' form throughout the week in Montreal, the outcome wasn’t entirely unforeseeable. Coco Gauff had struggled through two very tough matches against unseeded players with past top-10 experience (Veronika Kudermetova and Danielle Collins). Her troubles, however, were largely self-inflicted. Aside from Kudermetova’s solid start, it was Gauff’s erratic play - uncalibrated forehand, unforced errors, and double faults - that nearly cost her both matches.
Mboko was on the opposite trajectory - dominant in her previous matches and demonstrating resilience and adaptability, especially in her win over Marie Bouzkova, where she rebounded from a poor opening set to win 1-6 6-3 6-0.
Pre-match odds reflected those storylines. Gauff remained the favorite, but only narrowly, with odds at 1.40. The match opened in familiar fashion for the American: more serving struggles and mistimed shots. Mboko took full advantage, cruising to a 6-1 first set. The second set was tighter, but the Canadian teen remained clutch at key moments. Though the match was relatively quick, the pressure was real - Mboko created 11 pressure points and faced 15 on her own serve. She performed brilliantly under pressure, outperforming Gauff in nearly every statistical category.
The 18-year-old held serve in 11 of 15 pressure moments and converted 8 of her 11 opportunities - an astonishing performance. Mboko has shown this season that she possesses the tools to be highly effective. She ranks near the top in Dominance Ratio and Breakpoints Prevail on our WTA analysis table. While those stats include matches from the ITF circuit against lower-ranked opposition, they reflect her ability to dominate play and challenge top-tier opponents.
Rybakina survives Yastremska in messy battle
Elena Rybakina survived a tough encounter against Dayana Yastremska. What was expected to be a hitting showcase turned out to be a somewhat sluggish contest marked by inconsistency from both players. Rybakina started strong and broke early, but she lost the opening set after failing to maintain momentum. In contrast, her second set was clinical - 86% first serve success rate and zero break points faced.
The decider mirrored the opener. Rybakina once again broke early, only to lose the lead. Yastremska came close to winning, reaching 30:30 on Rybakina’s serve in the 10th game. But the world No. 12 stepped up and won the final three games. Despite needing four match points and facing a breakpoint in the final game, Rybakina closed it out. She struggled physically at times, finishing with 37 unforced errors to 17 winners - Yastremska wasn’t much cleaner with 38 errors to 21 winners. Final score: 5-7 6-2 7-5.
Kostyuk outlasts Kessler in grueling three-setter
Marta Kostyuk awaits Rybakina in the quarterfinals after defeating Mccartney Kessler in a 2-hour-42-minute slugfest. It was a match filled with extended rallies, missed opportunities, and huge pressure moments.
Kostyuk generated a staggering 53 pressure points, including 20 breakpoints, but converted only five. She also faced 44 pressure points on serve, allowing 13 breakpoints and being broken three times. Despite the inefficiency, her mental toughness prevailed in the decisive moments.
Bouzas Maneiro earns career-best win
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro reached her first-ever WTA 1000 quarterfinal after beating Lin Zhu in a clash of underdogs. The Spaniard was dominant for most of the match but dipped in the second set, committing multiple errors. She regained form in the decider, winning 7-5 1-6 6-2. This was her third three-set win of the week, and she’s now set to achieve her career-high ranking.
Sunday will deliver four tasty match-ups completing the Round of 16 in the bottom half of the draw. Read our recap and preview of the bottom half Round of 16 matches here: link
