Mboko reaches Hong Kong Open final with three-set win over Fernandez

Victoria Mboko of Canada hits a return to Naomi Osaka of Japan during finals tennis action at the National Bank Open in Montreal, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

HONG KONG — Victoria Mboko downed fellow Canadian Leylah Fernandez in three sets to advance to the Hong Kong Open tennis tournament final.

Toronto’s Mboko prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 over Fernandez of Laval, Que., in Saturday’s semifinal and the first meeting between the two Canadians.

The 19-year-old Mboko takes on Cristina Bucsa of Spain in Sunday’s final. Bucsa was a straight sets victor over fifth seed Maya Joint of Australia.

Mboko beat Bucsa 6-3, 6-2 in their lone previous meeting earlier this year in the qualifying round of Rome.

Third seed Mboko dispatched second seed Fernandez in one hour 44 minutes to reach her second WTA final this season.

Fernandez had the upper hand early in the match in winning eight of the first nine games.

Fernandez hit 10 winners to Mboko’s five in the first set when the teenager made 14 unforced errors.

The tide turned in the second set, however, when Fernandez leading 2-1 took a medical time out to have strapping applied to her right thigh.

Mboko elevated her game after that. She made 34 of 40 first serves and didn’t concede serve again.

“I didn’t really have the best start,” Mboko said afterward. “But I gotta give credit to her — she was playing really great, aggressive tennis, which made it hard for me to find my rhythm.

“I just wanted to stay in there as much as I could with her and find a way. It slowly got me a lot more confidence in my game, and I was more brave and able to go for my shots.”

Mboko won a third of four matches in Hong Kong trailing after the first set.

She appears to be back in form after a slump that followed her first WTA title at the National Bank Open in Montreal.

Battling a wrist injury sustained in Montreal, she lost four matches in a row before reaching the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open last week in Tokyo.

Mboko ended her losing streak in Tokyo against another countrywoman, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont.

Mboko is expected to debut in the world’s top 10 next week. She started the season at No. 333.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2025.

The Canadian Press