It was a much-anticipated main draw debut for Victoria Mboko at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Montreal and the 18-year-old Canadian certainly did not disappoint.
On a sweltering Sunday afternoon on Centre Court, Mboko played it cool en route to an impressive 7-5, 6-3 victory over Australia’s Kimberly Birrell. The win, her first at her home tournament, included 15 aces and three breaks of serve.
It’s another landmark moment this season for the budding star who continues her ascension to the top of the WTA pyramid. This is her 46th triumph of the year and third at the WTA 1000 level after also reaching the second round in Miami and Rome.
In round two, Mboko will face American Sofia Kenin, the no. 23 seed in the draw. Marketa Vondrousova, Jaqueline Cristian, Suzan Lamens, Lin Zhu, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, and Aoi Ito were among the other first round winners during Sunday’s day session.
Andreescu overcomes ankle injury to end NBO losing streak
Bianca Andreescu’s long awaited win at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers couldn`t have been any more dramatic.
Moments after Andreescu injured her left ankle while holding a second match point -- leaving her writhing in pain and in tears -- she recovered to beat her fellow Grand Slam winner, Barbora Krejcikova, 6-3, 6-4 under the lights at IGA Stadium on day one of main draw action.
Andreescu suffered the injury as she hit a forehand, and it looked like her night would be done given her distress. Krejcikova quickly rushed over to provide ice before Andreescu got to her chair and received a medical timeout.
When they resumed, Andreescu wasn`t severely tested, as Krejcikova sent two second serve returns long to seal the first-round match.
The difference between the players before the injury, statistically, wasn’t subtle. The Canadian saved a whopping 12 of 13 break points while going 3-for-8 herself. If those numbers suggested that it was destiny for Andreescu to prevail, no one could have forecast the unexpected plot twist at the end.
Andreescu ended a three-match NBO losing streak while also collecting just her second victory in Montreal (compared to eight in Toronto, where she triumphed in 2019 on the eve of her historic title at the US Open).
Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino made it three Canadians in the second round thanks to a 7-6(2), 6-1 win over French qualifier Elsa Jacquemot to wrap up play on Centre Court. She’ll next face the tournament’s eighth seed Emma Navarro.
Meanwhile, it was an American sweep on the Rogers Court on Sunday night thanks to a pair of triumphs courtesy of Danielle Collins and Hailey Baptiste.
The Montreal Roses challenge the WTA to a soccer game
On Sunday afternoon, players from the Montreal Roses, including Mara Bouchard, Olivia Mbala, Lotie Thibaut, Claire Maynard, and Hailey Whitaker faced several WTA stars in a friendly match on Court 2.

The Roses arrived confident after winning their game on Saturday against the Calgary Wild.