How Victoria Mboko beat Grand Slam champions with a clear mind and no fear
When Victoria Mboko stepped onto the court in Montreal this past summer, few outside Canada knew her name. By the time the WTA 1000 event wrapped, she had beaten four Grand Slam champions and catapulted into global tennis consciousness.
The secret to her success wasn’t any complicated tactics. No, it wasn’t grand declarations either. It was just a startlingly simple mindset that told her not to think too much.
“Not really much went through my head,” Mboko said on the Match Point Canada podcast when asked how she handled moments of pressure during her breakout run. “I don’t like to think a lot actually when I’m playing matches. I don’t have many thoughts running through my head.”
That unshakable mental calmness might be her most lethal weapon.
In Montreal, the 19-year-old took down an all-star lineup. Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Sofia Kenin. All former Slam winners. All older. All more experienced. Yet, none could disrupt the unbothered flow of the teenager from Burlington.
“I just want to give people a show,” she explained. “Win or lose, I just want to play well.”
Mboko didn’t just play well. She stunned. The Canadian crowd roared for her comebacks, many of which came after dropping the first set. She never panicked. She never spiraled.
“It’s the first set. Just regroup,” she said. “You’ll find a solution. Just try to change something up a little bit or try to adapt to their game.”
That ability to reset without emotion or drama was a defining feature of her game this year. It also reflects a maturity well beyond her age.
“This is my first year actually playing a full season and being okay for most of it,” she said. “I feel like I’m really happy about that most of all.”
Her coach, Natalie Tauziat, deserves some credit for that mindset. A former Wimbledon finalist and part of the Tennis Canada coaching structure, Tauziat has worked with Mboko since her teenage years.
“She’s a very calm and like pretty cool person to be around,” Mboko said. “Just like re-encouraging words, like, that’s—I need that a little bit.”
The duo’s chemistry, built on years of familiarity, allows Mboko to stay grounded even when facing tennis royalty across the net.
“When I look at my box… I feel comfortable and I feel relaxed,” she said.
That relaxed nature isn’t apathy. It’s poise. Even after her stunning Montreal title, Mboko refused to get swept up in the hype. She played through a wrist injury that eventually forced her to pull out of Cincinnati, and admitted, in hindsight, she should have taken more time off.
“I think I wish actually I might have just tooken a bit more time off,” she said candidly. “You kind of become the prey instead of like the predator.”
She knows the reality of tennis stardom: expectations flip fast. But the shift doesn’t bother her.
“I didn’t really care that much,” she said. “It’s my first year on tour. It happens. It happens to so many players.”
Instead, Mboko is focused on the long game. Her goals for 2026 are not ranking-based. She’s just looking to gain valuable experience. “It’d be nice to go far in one of the Grand Slams,” she said. “I don’t really care which one it is… just have the two-week experience.”
With her mental approach, calm under fire, and refusal to overthink, Victoria Mboko isn’t just a rising star. She’s a blueprint for the modern tennis player: one who thrives not by overpowering opponents, but by outlasting the chaos.
“You lose, you learn,” she said. “Sometimes it’s not your day, but it’s okay.” And with that kind of mindset, there sure will be plenty more “days” ahead for Canada’s new tennis sensation.
