19-year-old sensation Victoria Mboko continued her meteoric rise, sealing a spot in a second WTA 1000 final after imperiously coasting past Jelena Ostapenko in Doha, 6-3, 6-2.
The Canadian, who announced herself to the tennis world when she won her maiden 1000 title in Montreal back in August, was far too good for her opponent, reeling off nine of the last 11 games. She is now a victory away from a second crown at this level.
At the start of 2025, Mboko was ranked 333rd in the world, but she is now projected to move into the top 10 regardless of the result in the final.
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"It is crazy, she was playing great tennis from the start, so I had to step it up. I'm happy to be here in the final," she said after the match
"I feel pretty good, it is part of the game, sometimes you have really long matches... it is important to rest up and take recovery... do everything I can to be ready for tomorrow."
Taking on last year's runner-up and the 2017 French Open champion, Mboko made a slow start to the encounter, going down an early break. However, she wasn't behind for long, getting the break back to level the score at 2-2, before winning four of the next five games to take the first set.
From that point on, Mboko took firm control of the contest, with her thunderous groundstrokes and stunning backhand causing Ostapenko all sorts of problems. She had little issue in the second set, and despite being broken back when serving for the match at 5-0, she got over the line on the second time of asking.
Mboko started the year in impressive fashion after reaching the Adelaide final, but was heavily beaten by Mirra Andreeva as she struggled with an injury issue. She was also comfortably beaten by eventual finalist Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open fourth round.
As well as beating Ostapenko, Mboko defeated Andreeva and Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina on her way to the showpiece event, and will face Karolina Muchova, who beat Maria Sakkari in the other last-four match.
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Muchova, who is yet to win a WTA 1000 title despite reaching two finals prior, battled from a set down against the Greek to clinch a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory. It is also her first final appearance since 2024.
