My parents fled war-torn Congo – now I beat my idol and emulated 26-year Serena Williams record

A new tennis star has been born.

Victoria Mboko, the 18-year-old, announced herself to the world after she stormed to the Canadian Open title on Thursday against Naomi Osaka.

GETTY

Canada has a new home hero after one of their own completed a fairytale run in Montreal.

The sold-out crowd witnessed the 85th ranked Canadian wildcard beat Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to win her first WTA Tour title.

Her thrilling win was even felt 330 miles away in Toronto after cheers there interrupted the men’s final, which was being played concurrenlty.

“I guess the Canadian player won in Montreal,” chair umpire Fergus Murphy explained to the confused finalists Ben Shelton and Karen Khachanov

After beating four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka, 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina, 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and two-time major winner Coco Gauff, Mboko became just the third teen to eliminate four Grand Slam champions in one event.

“I think my biggest takeaway is the sky’s the limit,” Mboko told the Guardian after the win.

“I never would have thought I would win a WTA 1000 so soon, that this would be my first WTA title, too.

Mboko is also the youngest player ever to achieve this feat since Serena Williams did so en route to her historic 1999 US Open title.

The win will also be special as Mboko beat Osaka, a player she described as her idol growing up.

“I also want to thank Naomi for an incredible match. I’ve always looked up to her when I was really little, so it’s always great to play with such an amazing player like you,” Mboko said in her winner’s speech.

GETTY

GETTY

Victoria Mboko began the year outside the top 300

In just eight months, Mboko has dramatically risen up the WTA rankings after starting the year as the world No.333.

After this stunning Masters 1000 title, Mboko will now be the world No.24, a feat she cannot even process herself.

“I don’t think I could say yes to that, to be honest,” she said.

“It happens, and I honestly think everything’s been happening so fast that I don’t really have time to process it, let alone look at the rankings.

“I feel like when I settle down a little bit and kind of realize what has just happened, so many things will change and I’ll have a different perspective going forward.”

Victoria Mboko’s story begins decades ago

Despite Mboko’s recent breakthrough, her rise has been anything but short, and it’s one that begins back in the 1990s with her parents.

Mboko’s parent moved from the Democratic Republic of Congo nearly 30 years ago, escaping the First and Second Congo Wars.

Due to visa issues, her mother, Godee, and father, Cyprien, were separated.

Godee went to Montreal, Canada, and Cyprien went to North Carolina in the United States.

Her father then moved to N.C. to join her mother, and that is where Victoria was born, although the family would soon leave for Toronto, where she would be raised.

Mboko would quickly fall in love with tennis, and her father, a retired mechanical engineer, worked nights in part so that he could drive her to tennis obligations.

With Canada’s biggest stars falling out of the tournament already — Leylah Fernandez and Felix Auger-Aliassime both lost in the first round — Mboko has the chance to be the nation’s biggest star this tournament.

And there is a buzz about Mboko back home, who is becoming the latest string of Canadians from immigrant families rising to the top of tennis.

“We know Canada is a very multicultural country and we are very accepting of everyone,” Andreescu, a former World No.4 and mentor to Mboko, told The Athletic.

GETTY

“I think it’s a beautiful thing that we’re all from different cultures, different backgrounds.

“Tennis Canada really has built this program in the acceptance of everybody, no matter who you are.”

What’s next for Victoria Mboko

Mboko provided an update for those wondering where they can catch her in action next.

She confirmed to reporters that she will not be playing the Cincinati Open, as she nurses a wrist injury.

Yeah, I’m not planning on playing Cincinnati at the moment. I just want to take care of my wrist a little bit right now, and I think it’s just very close and sudden for me to go there and play again, I think in, like, two days,” Mboko said.

“I think I’m just going to sit out on that one and prepare for the upcoming tournaments.”

With the US Open looming, Mboko is right to prioritise rest and recover ahead of what could be another Cinderalla story in New York.