After beginning the season with a 22-match unbeaten run on the second-tier ITF Tour, Mboko has shown over the past two weeks that she can mix it with the elite – beating Grand Slam winners Coco Gauff, Sofia Kenin, Elena Rybakina and Osaka.
It’s validation of hard work from the age of three, and for parents who landed in a very different United States in 1999 – one which provided solace from political unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
But it’s in Toronto where Mboko – who was born in Charlotte in the US – was inspired to play tennis.
“I remember going there as a kid and watching all the great players playing,” Mboko told the Women’s Tennis Association.
“We were watching a lot of Serena and Venus [Williams], and that’s where I took a lot of inspiration, because Serena was literally the greatest of all time. I used to see how the pros are and I used to be in so much awe of them. And now I’m seeing them like right beside me.”
Mboko’s coach Nathalie Tauziat – a former world number three and Wimbledon finalist in 1998 – has overseen Mboko’s remarkable form after previously guiding her in the junior ranks.
“I think what is important for her is to see us not panic when something happens. I remember at the beginning of the year, she always told me: ‘Oh, you’re so calm during the match,” Tauziat said.
“The US Open is the objective – who knows, maybe she can do something good? Here, we are going match by match, and hoping for no injury.”
