Music: {allcanada} Canada's Victoria Mboko upsets Elena Rybakina at Qatar Open

Thursday, February 12, 2026

{allcanada} Canada's Victoria Mboko upsets Elena Rybakina at Qatar Open

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It's off to the semifinals at the Qatar Open tennis tournament for Canadian tennis star Victoria Mboko following yet another upset victory.

The 19-year-old from Toronto earned a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 quarterfinal win Thursday over second-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, the 2026 Australian Open champion. The 10th-seeded Mboko had reached the quarterfinals by upsetting fifth seed Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) on Wednesday.

The Canadian won Thursday in dramatic fashion, sealing the match with her sixth service break. After Mboko jumped out to a 40-0 lead in the 10th game, Rybakina fought back to deuce, but Mboko took the next two points to complete the stunning upset.

Mboko finished 6-of-12 in break attempts while Rybakina was 5-of-9. Rybakina fired 11 aces in the match, compared to six for the Canadian.

Three service breaks powered Mboko's opening-set win. Rybakina moved ahead 5-3 with a break and a hold, but Mboko held serve and then broke again to level the set at 5-5.

The Canadian clinched the set with her third break despite having fewer aces (two, compared to four for Rybakina) and a double-fault (Rybakina had none). Rybakina also registered two first-set service breaks of her own.

Rybakina broke for the third time in the opening game of the second set and held for a 3-1 lead. Mboko answered with her fourth break to pull even at 3-3, but Rybakina broke again for 4-3 and served out the set 6-4 to force a deciding set.

Mboko improved her record to 12-3 this season. She's coming off a breakout 2025 campaign in which she won two titles, including a WTA 1000-level crown at the National Bank Open in Montreal.

She entered the Qatar Open with a career-high ranking of 13th and is projected to move into the top 10 following Thursday's victory.