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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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After an exhilarating run to a maiden WTA title in Montreal, Vicky Mboko was invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Toronto Blue Jays game. 

"It felt really cool," the teenager told TSN in a Zoom interview. "That was a one-of-a-kind experience. I got to meet Bo Bichette and he was really nice. I was kind of nervous for that a little bit too."

Bichette, who caught Mboko's pitch, offered some encouraging words afterward as the pair posed for a picture. The Jays shortstop also took time to sign an autograph.

"I was really happy to get his signature," said Mboko, who will celebrate her 19th birthday on Tuesday. "That was that was nice. I still carry the baseball with me, actually, in my tennis bag."

A new good luck charm for the US Open?

"Yes," she says with a smile. "Exactly."

Mboko will play her first career main draw match at the US Open on Monday at 11 am ET when she takes on Barbora Krejcikova at Louis Armstrong Stadium, which is the second-biggest court on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. 

Mboko, who practised inside the 14,000-seat stadium on Saturday, is in the spotlight like never before. Her breakthrough run at the 1,000-level event (one level below the Grand Slams) on home soil catapulted her all the way up to No. 24 in the rankings. She started the season ranked 333rd.

The pride of Burlington, Ont. is only the third Canadian singles player in the Open era to win the country’s biggest tournament following in the footsteps of Bianca Andreescu (2019) and Faye Urban (1969). After the star-making tournament, she went on a media tour conducting a series of interviews, but insists not much has changed.

"Life has been pretty normal," Mboko said. "I think the add on is that there's a lot more things I might have to do, or a lot more people I'm talking to as well. So it's changed in that sense but, you know, I still feel like everything's kind of normal.”

Outside expectations have certainly increased, though. Mboko is actually a top-eight choice at FanDuel Canada to win the US Open title. Three of the players with better odds – Naomi Osaka, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff – lost to Mboko in Montreal.

After claiming the trophy in Toronto in 2019, Andreescu rode the momentum to a title in New York, becoming the first ever Canadian singles Grand Slam champion. She sees the same "fearlessness, hunger and belief" in Mboko now.

Andreescu encourages 'breath of fresh air' Mboko to savour the moment

Bianca Andreescu joined TSN's Mark Masters to share her perspective on Vicky Mboko's magical run in Montreal. "It was so beautiful," she said. "That moment was incredible." Andreescu reflected on her win at home in Toronto in 2019 and offered some advice to Canada's newest tennis star.

Mboko, who had to go through qualifying before making the main draw at the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this year, is doing her best to avoid the hype while embracing her new reality. 

"I'm seeded and I'm actually in direct acceptance into the main draw so that's a completely new experience for me," she noted. "And it's really exciting because a year ago, I would have never thought that I was going to do something like this or be where I am, a seeded player. So, I mean, going into this week, I'm really excited, and I just want to have as much fun as possible."

Mboko fed off the home fans during her Cinderella surge in Montreal where she arrived as a wild card ranked 85th in the world. She’s anticipating a rowdy atmosphere in New York where she reached the semifinals in the US Open junior competition in 2022.

"The energy here is just completely different," she said. "There's always something going on here. Even when I'm practising, there's maybe like a little parade and a lot of music and everyone's having so much fun, which I like a lot. And I think playing when there's a lot of things going on, it brings me a lot of good energy as well. So I'd say that's one thing I really like about this Grand Slam.”

Mboko: Crowd support in Montreal was heartwarming and had me super pumped to perform at my best

National Bank Open champion Vicky Mboko joins Bryan Hayes and Dave Feschuk on OverDrive to discuss the crowd support in Montreal on the way to her first career WTA title, the confidence she gained heading into the US Open, and the excitement of throwing out the first pitch at the Blue Jays game.

Despite her seeded status, Mboko faces a tricky opener against a two-time major champion. Limited to seven events this season due to injury, Krejcikova is No. 61 in the rankings, but the 29-year-old from Czechia won Wimbledon just last year and reached the round of 16 at the big tune-up event in Cincinnati.

"I know she has a really aggressive game,” Mboko said. “I mean, she is a former Grand Slam champion so there's going to be a good level of tennis on Monday. I’m expecting a really difficult match.”

If Mboko advances to the second round, she will face the winner of the match between Serbia’s Olga Danilovic, ranked No. 41, and Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, ranked No. 91.

The first seed Mboko could face is No. 10 Emma Navarro in the third round. The American reached the US Open semifinals last year, but is just 1-4 during the summer hard-court season.

After suffering a wrist injury during her semifinal win in Montreal, Mboko pulled out of scheduled events in Cincinnati and Cleveland. In pictures posted from Mboko's practice in New York, she still had tape on her right wrist.

"It's feeling a lot better," she stressed. "I'm just really focused on having it be ready to go. I'm doing every protocol necessary for me to be ready."

Mboko’s meteoric rise has turned the 2025 US Open into a milestone moment for Canadian tennis. On the men’s side, Gabriel Diallo (31) is also seeded for the first time at a major joining Felix Auger-Aliassime (25) and Denis Shapovalov (27). In the women’s bracket, 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Annie Fernandez (31) is also among the top 32 players. That makes this the first time five Canadians have been seeded in singles at the same Grand Slam.

"We made history," Mboko said. "I'm really happy to be a part of that … We're all super close and they're all super nice. I want us all to do really well.”

Grand Slam success has proven elusive for the country’s singles stars of late. No Canadian has advanced to the quarterfinals at a major since Fernandez reached the final eight at Roland-Garros in 2022.

Mboko’s meteoric rise may represent the start of a resurgence on the biggest stages.

"It's motivating for all of us to see her do that well at that age," said Diallo, who reached the third round as a qualifier in his US Open debut last year. "And just also the level of maturity that she has and the person that she is off the court. She's really nice, down to earth, and just loves to compete and play tennis. She's going to have a very successful career."

Rebecca Marino made it six Canadians in the singles draw by qualifying on Friday. She survived three straight three-set matches and saved three match points in the first round. The 34-year-old from Vancouver is inspired by Mboko, who she calls "a genuinely kind person."

"To have her have that success in Montreal was really, really satisfying for all Canadians, and definitely a motivator for all of us," Marino told TSN. "She's seeded in her first US Open, which is incredible. So, yeah, I think really proud of her, but also, like, it's a great motivator. It's putting a little fire under our butts here to keep working hard."