'I was kind of shocked': Ecstatic Victoria Mboko shares what she thought after stunning Coco Gauff at Canadian Open

Canada’s Victoria Mboko is the new name in the world of tennis that has sent shockwaves with some incredible performances in the recent past. The 18-year-old produced another such performance on Friday when she stunned the top-seeded America Coco Gauff in the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Mboko defeated the two-time Grand Slam winner in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-4 to cement a spot in the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career. Gauff was the second Grand Slam winner that Mboko defeated at the Canadian Open.

Earlier, in the second round, Mboko defeated the former Australian Open winner, America’s Sofia Kenin, in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-3. Friday’s victory over Gauff came in just over an hour, which left the crowd, as well as Mboko, surprised.

Talking to the press after the match, Mboko expressed her emotions in a few words. The 18-year-old said that she has no idea how to express her excitement after beating the current world number two, that too so comprehensively. Mboko also said that she was ‘happy’ to keep her composure during the match and especially towards the end.

“I don’t even know what to say still,” said Mboko while talking to the media. “I was kind of shocked about it all. Everything kind of came so fast. There were so many people. I feel like tonight I let it soak in a little bit more, but I’m still kind of on the high a little bit. But no, I’m super happy, and I’m just really content with how things went today and that I get to move on to the next round. I was just happy I kept my composure today and I pulled it through.”

During the same press conference, Mboko was asked about whether she wanted to take advantage of Gauff’s weakness that was apparent during the Canadian Open, where she made 37 unforced errors in the first two matches, by far the most by any player in the competition. Mboko responded by saying that her focus was on producing her best tennis on the court and that she was not at all thinking about anything like that.

“Well, I mean, nothing really crosses my mind just because, I mean, that's the game,” said Mboko. “People make errors. It happens. I make errors too. So I was just really focused on myself and what I had to do. I didn't really focus as much as what she was doing in the match because I just wanted to play as solid of a game as I possibly could. I just wanted to do what I was supposed to do in the match and hope for the best.”

During the on-court interview right after the match, Mboko called her achievement of beating Gauff ‘incredible’. She also went on to thank the local crowd for turning up and supporting her in every match. “It’s incredible [to beat Gauff],” said Mboko. “I’m so happy to beat such a great champion. Every day they've been coming to all my matches and supporting me a lot. I couldn't be more grateful. I've never really had so many people cheering for me in a tournament, especially a WTA tournament. This is kind of the only tournament Canada has, WTA tournament. To have that kind of support at a tournament like this, it's amazing. I couldn't be more grateful, and I think it's so cool that so many Canadians get to come and support me.”

Mboko’s next opponent will be Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. The 22-year-old cemented a spot in her first-ever WTA 1000 event quarterfinal after beating China’s Zhu Lin in the round of 16 with a score of 7-5, 1-6, 6-2. It will be the first-ever meeting between the players in professional tennis.