Montreal WTA 1000

[jimlosaltos]

Anisimova harnessing her momentum from Wimbledon rather than the negatives of her final, downs Raducanu 2 and 1.

Kostyuk had the point of the event so far yesterday vs Dasha Kasatkina. Fell flat, hard on her butt, got up and won the point anyway to earn a match point, then closed it out.
Earlier in the set, hit a drop serve on game point and won it.

Match of day promises to be Coco vs 18 year old Canadian phenom Victoria Mboko. Teen took Coco to 3 sets in Rome.

[jimlosaltos]

Huuuuge 18 year old Canadian Mboko beats Coco in 2 sets and 1 hour.

filedata/fetch?id=108042&d=1754191203&type=thumb

[jimlosaltos]

Today's lineup is promising ...

Osaka vs Sevastova

Iga vs Tauson

Anismova (who's shaken off Wimby final) vs Svitolin

Mochova leads Keys a set, on court as I type Sat AM.

[jimlosaltos]

With Fritz into quarters, List of every active ATP player to make the quarters at every Masters 1000 event.
A few on this list don't get enough credit IMHO.

Indian Wells
Miami
Monte-Carlo
Madrid
Rome
Toronto
Cincinnati
Shanghai
Paris

filedata/fetch?id=108048&d=1754329966&type=thumb

[jimlosaltos]

Shelton topped Cobolli in a third set tiebreak.

They had a tiny dustup at the net, which social has picked up.

Most probable explanation, Flavio gestured at 1-0 in the TB that Ben hit his FH basically with his eyes closed, watch Ben’s reaction when he hit a FH winner at 2-0 in the TB. He took offense to his friend essentially saying he got lucky. It pissed Ben off and clearly made him play better. Bear was poked.
Such sensitive dudes.

Partial videl here: https://x.com/TheTennisLetter/status...84143204508098
It continued on to the sideline.

filedata/fetch?id=108050&d=1754330232&type=thumb

[stroke]

Yes, my take, not that it matters, is Ben should have just let it go. Cabolli is a good guy, has no history of drama, and is just not a problem sportsmanship wise. They had been out there a long time, and Ben won the match. Just move on Ben.

[jimlosaltos]

Yes, my take, not that it matters, is Ben should have just let it go. Cabolli is a good guy, has no history of drama, and is just not a problem sportsmanship wise. They had been out there a long time, and Ben won the match. Just move on Ben.

Agreed. But I posted this in the "wrong" Rogers Cup. Sigh.

[jimlosaltos]

18 year old Canadian Victoria Mboko emergence continues, now into her first WTA 1000 semifinal. Will face Rybakina in a rematch from the veterans win in D.C. last fortnite.

22 yo Clara Tauson is another one to watch, beating Iga 7-6(1), 6-3 to reverse their outcome at Wimbledon. Also beat former Wimbledon champ Rybakina there. So, she can play on hard and grass courts.

Clara is a big 6 feet, not a gazelle.

[jimlosaltos]

Osaka vs Mboko

Final in Montreal has storylines that write themselves, former prodigy in Naomi Osaka making her comeback meets perhaps the next prodigy, a local.

18 year old Canadian, Victoria Mboko stole one last night -- was down match point to one of the best servers in women's tennis, broke Rybakina. Then took the tiebreaker. 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(4)

Mboko earlier beat Coco Gauff pretty handily.

I've only seen a bit of Mboko but she has some interesting skills. Very fast hands, with an abbreviated, wristy forehand. I don't think anyone would teach that forehand, but she's got the hand skills and reflexes to make it work. Takes second serves very early and attacks a lot. Can change directions with her backhand against pace.

Started the year outside the top 300 and in only her 7th main draw has a shot at a WTA 1000 title

[hybridfh]

Osaka vs Mboko

....
I've only seen a bit of Mboko but she has some interesting skills. Very fast hands, with an abbreviated, wristy forehand. I don't think anyone would teach that forehand, but she's got the hand skills and reflexes to make it work. Takes second serves very early and attacks a lot. Can change directions with her backhand against pace.

....

Interesting take on Mboko's forehand. I see it very differently. I see Mboko's as more ATP style with power generated from the ground and hip rotation leading to excellent lag. It's on the compact side but not too compact (and IMO it's better technically than a few ATP players that come to mind like Jordan Thompson and Roman Safiullen) She's not using her wrist...her wrist gets used passively due to the lag she's generating from her body. I watched the highlights and I was thinking that Osaka's forehand is her weaker wing with that huge backswing and too-extreme grip. Of course I know she's won majors and is a great player, but THAT's the forehand I wouldn't teach.

Btw, at the WTA website in timestamp 05 to 010 of the match highlights there are two Mboko forehands which can be clearly seen from the back view and which I don't think look "abbreviated" at all...they look like medium-sized ATP forehands.

[jimlosaltos]

Since there's nothing on the two Rogers Cup finals from last night, I'm going to post this in both threads, for your amusement, one hopes

Last night, the two finalists for the men's title in Toronto's Roger's Cup stood motionless, looking confused. It was the third set and an epic comeback was underway but play was stopped. The crowd started cheering and yelling. Nothing was happening on court. The roar spread. Ben Shelton and his opponent Karen Khachanov looked at each other. Ben turned back to the chair umpire, half confused and half annoyed. Ben walked over to veteran umpire Fergus Murphy who bent over to tell Ben, "It's <indistinct words >." Ben appeared to yell back. Fergus raised his voice over the crowd.
.

"It's MBOKO."

Some 541 kilometers East in Montreal, 18 year old Victoria Mboko had just engineered her own epic comeback, topping multiple-slam winner Naomi Osaka, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 for the women's singles title. The Toronto crowd had been following her match on their phones, like an NFL crowd cheering for an arch-rival's loss that gets the home team into the playoffs. Word spread through the stadium. They went crazy. Born Canadian to immigrants that fled violence in the Congo, she's been gleefully accepted as a local hero.

Mboko earned it, beating four major title winners in one tournament: Sophie Kenin {Remember her winning the Australian Open?}, Coco Gaufff, Elena Rybakina, and finally Osaka. That makes Mboko the youngest with that feat since Serena William in 1999. Plus, she came from behind in three of the matches. The women's final started as if it would be lopsided for the veteran, with Osaka rolling to a 6-2 first set. But Mboko is fast, returned well and hit deep. Plus, she had the crowd behind her. By the third set, Osaka had visibility and petulantly checked out, her continuing struggles with social anxiety on display. I can't imagine the challenge of facing a stadium full of people rooting against you. Perhaps one can understand why Noval Djokovic plays with such a snarl. Nah.

Eventually, the men got back to their match and Ben also won his first 1000-level title in a 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(3) comeback.

Some links:

Andrea Petkovic on Substack: "... It was the worst of times."
Victoria Mboko vs. Naomi Osaka | 2025 Montreal Final | WTA Match Highlights 5:06 min YT
Karen Khachanov vs Ben Shelton For The Title | Toronto 2025 Final Highlights 8:07 min YT
ATP on Shelton's win
WTA on Mboko's win

[jimlosaltos]

Excerpt by Petkorazi aka Andrea Petkovic on her Substack "Finite Jest":

"Earlier this year, Victoria was on a demolishing winning streak on the tour’s lower levels. She won 5 challenger titles (one of them from qualies) before she tried her luck at WTA tournaments. When you win so much, winning becomes a habit. The more you play, the more you win, the more normal big moments become. I always use the example of my younger self at 12 years old when I started playing tournaments. I would vomit before every match, that’s how nervous I got. After a few months of regularly playing, the vomiting was replaced by an average of 178 bathroom visits. Eventually, that too subsided. A match had become a match. There is still enough time to puke after one loses, no need to do it preemptively. It’s just overall bad for your stomach and teeth.

"Another aspect that contributed to Victoria’s victory (you know I had to) is also the most unfair advantage of the young: Youth doesn’t doubt. Youth usually hasn’t had enough experience to doubt. While we middle-aged people weigh the pros and cons, the possibilities and probabilities, prepare plan A, B and C (just to be sure), youth and youth’s buoyancy goes straight into action. There’s no time to think when life’s coming at you at that pace!

"Pair that with the X-factor that was the Canadian crowd and we had a melange of marvellous happenings unfold in front of our eyes "

More here:

https://open.substack.com/pub/andreapetkovic/p/it-was-the-best-of-times?r=5c1jxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email