'Outstanding' Mboko hailed as role model for young Canadian tennis players, girls of colour

After her extraordinary win at the National Bank Open in Montreal, 18-year-old tennis sensation Victoria Mboko is being celebrated as a role model for the next generation of Canadian athletes.

The phenom, who was born in North Carolina and raised in Burlington, Ont., took the National Bank Open title on Thursday after defeating four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the final match. 

On Friday, she shot up 61 spots to a career-best No. 24 in the world rankings. She's set to be a seeded player at the U.S. Open in New York, which will begin later this month. 

Yosabeth Agonafer of the Alberta-based group Black Girls in Tennis says Mboko's victory on Canadian soil paves the way for more representation of Black Canadian women in tennis. 

"It wasn't just about her winning. It was also inspiring for a lot of young women, especially women of colour," Agonafer said in an interview. "Watching a young Canadian win the title on Canadian soil, I think it's pretty amazing … It's so powerful because it does pave the way for bigger things."

She said many girls of colour look up to athletes like Serena and Venus Williams and Coco Gauff, and it’s inspiring to see a Black Canadian player succeed on a big stage.

"It's not (just about) her winning. It is visibility, it's the validation, it's opening doors for young women, for women of colour. I think it just opens the stage globally and shows that it is possible (to win), that excellence has no limits."

Doug Burke, president of ACE Tennis and one of Mboko's coaches during her training days in Burlington, said she is showing younger Canadians of "any colour or upbringing" that it’s possible to achieve the heights of success.

"We knew Vicky was out for great things and going up to do great things, but to see her perform the way she did in the type of competition that she faced over the course of the tournament and the composure with which she carried herself in those matches … was just quite outstanding," he said. 

Burke, who coached Mboko from the time she was four years old until the time she was about 12, said she is a particularly exceptional role model because she illustrates that it's not just an athlete's physical ability but attitude off the court that leads to success. 

"I think she steps into that role without even trying. (It's) her manner, the way she carries herself, the way she is grounded and appreciates the support that she's had," he said.

Burke said Mboko's competitive spirit and laser focus on the court captured his attention right from the get-go. 

"She wanted to beat her older siblings from the time she was four, five, six years old, and they're seven, eight, nine years older than she was," he said. 

"She had a passion. She just wanted to play all the time."

Burke said Mboko started competing in under-18 tournaments when she was 12 and playing against age groups that were six years ahead of her. 

"I know at the time they were trying to figure out if she was too young to play," he said. "That's how advanced she was beyond her years."

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov