Victoria Mboko sinks reigning Adelaide champ Madison Keys, hopes "to find some straight-set wins soon"

“Maybe I can try to find some straight-set wins soon.”

Victoria Mboko has played five matches thus far in 2026. All five have gone the distance.

She split the first two at the season-opening United Cup, ahead of this week’s WTA 500 in Adelaide. On Wednesday, Mboko erased a pair of match points to topple Anna Kalinskaya to stay alive in the tournament.

The following day, the Canadian teenager improved to 4-1 in those contests with her biggest win of the grouping yet. Taking on defending champion Madison Keys, Mboko outdueled the No. 2 seed for a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory.

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In the final set, Mboko did not face a break point while claiming half of her return points to pull away from the reigning Australian Open title holder.

“She hits a pretty strong ball, and all I was thinking in that moment was just to try to stay low and try to redirect as much as I could, and try to either make her miss first or have a good opportunity to take control,” Mboko assessed during a press conference Thursday.

The world No. 17, who captured her maiden WTA title on home soil last August at the 1000-level event in Montreal, is seeking her third trophy following a winning conclusion to 2025 in Hong Kong. Local hopeful Kimberly Birrell, the competitor she defeated at the start of that memorable seven-match run, awaits in the semifinals.

“I'm expecting a big fight tomorrow. She also has the crowd advantage, so that's good for her,” she said. “But I'm going to just go in the match like I do every other match, and just stay right in there, try to play my game, and just have fun on court.”

The eighth seed can break into the Top 15 by lifting the trophy this week. At this time a year ago, Mboko was ranked No. 337.

“I kind of had to adjust and adapt very quickly from playing ITFs to suddenly playing on the WTA tour full. Often playing top players, you have to get used to all of that,” reflected Mboko.

“So I'm glad I can kind of get a deep run in this tournament, and try to set the tone for the start of this year.”

Third-seeded Mirra Andreeva faces her former doubles partner Diana Shnaider in the other semifinal.