Canada’s Victoria Mboko has earned a spot in yet another semifinal.
The 19-year-old tennis phenom from Toronto outlasted American Madison Keys for a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 quarterfinals win at the Adelaide International tennis tournament on Thursday.
Mboko, the tournament’s eighth seed, broke Keys early, en route to winning the first set, but couldn’t compete with the reigning Australian Open champion’s big serve in the second.
Keys, seeded second at the WTA 500 event, fired eight aces across the one-hour 53-minute match, including six in the second set alone.
The Canadian won 75 per cent of her first-serve points in the third set and converted the lone breakpoint available to her.
“I know she won this tournament last year, and of course, Australian Open, and I knew coming into this match that it would be a big fight,” Mboko said afterward, per the WTA.
“I think there was one moment in the second set where she hit three return winners off my serve, so that was pretty humbling. She is where she is for a reason, and I think to play these kind of players, you have to get used to receiving those kinds of balls. It was great tennis from her, and I’m glad I got it done.”
She’ll now face Kimberly Birrell of Australia in the semifinals. The Canadian beat Birrell last year in the first round of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Montreal, which Mboko ended up winning. It was the first of two titles last year for Mboko.
Russia’s Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider square off in the other semifinal.
Mboko is set to make her debut at the Australian Open later this month after a breakout 2025 season on the WTA Tour.
She was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year, raising her ranking from No. 333 at the start of the season to No. 18 at the end.
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