ITF Class of 2025: Victoria Mboko
The ITF’s ‘Class of…’ series recognises players who have had a successful year on the ITF World Tennis Tour, identifies promising breakthrough talents and those predicted to go on to big things.
This year’s group was decided by a panel of experts. Ashley Keber (WTA), Julia Boyadjieva (ATP), Mark Woodforde (ITF), Mary Pierce (ITF) and Nao Kawatei (ITF) voted on a shortlist of 19 players. First up is Canada's Victoria Mboko.
Sometimes words cannot do justice to the magnitude of an achievement, but it is nevertheless worth giving it a go because certain things need celebrating, marking and remembering in as many ways as possible.
For teenager Victoria Mboko, the 2025 season has been a life-changing campaign full of shocks and successes – a fairytale no less and one which should offer other aspiring players enormous hope and inspiration.
Mboko was born in North Carolina in the United States after her family settled there after leaving behind political turmoil in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They later moved to Canada and Burlington, Ontario.
The 19-year-old has become a huge source of Canadian tennis pride after starting the year ranked No. 333 in the WTA Rankings and embarking upon a journey which now sees her ranked No. 18 in the world. It is simply remarkable.
Mboko served notice of her intentions during the opening weeks of January as she lifted silverware at W35 Le Lamentin (Martinique) before proceeding to win four of her next five ITF World Tennis Tour events.
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This astonishing run included then career-best title-wins at W75 Rome, GA and W75 Porto, with Mboko’s meteoric rise very much rooted in the ITF World Tennis Tour and its catalytic qualities.
The ITF World Tennis Tour is the main artery to the ATP and WTA Tours and a key component of the ITF’s provision of a global pathway for talented players around the world.
Like many before her, this pathway worked wonders for Mboko as she used her ITF World Tennis Tour achievements as a springboard for greater accomplishments on an ever-increasing scale.
“I’m very happy to be recognised as part of the Class of 2025 by the ITF," said Mboko. "It really means a lot to me and I’m really grateful to have been a part of this award.
"It’s been such a great year. Starting the year off playing many tournaments especially in Europe and the Caribbean, I gained a lot of momentum and confidence which has helped me throughout the year when playing more WTA tournaments.
"Starting off there let me have a lot of matchplay, and playing such difficult players prepared me physically and mentally for the WTA Tour.
"I’m really grateful for everything that I went through this year. It has helped me become a better player overall.”
By the end of March, Mboko had claimed her maiden WTA Tour match-win at the Miami Open, while a scintillating Billie Jean King Cup debut followed in April as her burgeoning reputation grew.
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The national pride which Mboko showcased in Canadian colours during Billie Jean King Cup was an extension of the passion she frequently demonstrated at junior level.
Mboko was part of the Canada team at the 2019 ITF World Junior Tennis Finals and 2021 Billie Jean King Cup Junior Finals, while she and Kayla Cross proudly unfurled a Canadian flag after losing the 2022 Wimbledon girls’ doubles final.
Back to the present, a Grand Slam main-draw debut followed in May as Mboko barged her way through Roland Garros qualifying to reach the third round, while she contested the second round at Wimbledon as a lucky loser.
But in a season of peaks, the highest undoubtedly came in August as Mboko dispatched four Grand Slam champions, including Naomi Osaka in the final, to seal her first WTA Tour title in Montreal.
No half measures here, the home favourite defeated Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Osaka on her way to sealing a quite astonishing victory – at a WTA 1000 event.
A second WTA title arrived during November at the Hong Kong Open, as did further match-wins for Canada in Billie Jean King Cup – all of which adds up to a quite incredible 12 months.
Mboko has already made her mark at WTA level and who knows where the next year will take this incredibly talented teenager. However far she goes, it is fair to say that she will be forever emblematic of the ITF World Tennis Tour and its power to propel careers in a positive direction.
Congratulations, Victoria.