Victoria Mboko continued her rapid rise in the rankings and reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time with a 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3 victory over 14th seed Clara Thorson at the Australian Open.
Mboko served for the second set and held three match points before Thorson fought back, but the 19-year-old showed maturity beyond her years and didn’t let the setback derail her.
Mboko is one of five teenagers to reach the third round in women’s singles, with fellow first-timers Tereza Valentova and Nikola Bartunkova also making a big impression, along with 18-year-old Mila Andreeva.
The Canadian leads the teens at Melbourne Park, along with 18-year-old American Iva Jovic, who advanced to round four with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) win over seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini.
“A lot of us teenagers on tour are actually still playing in tournaments,” Mboko said. “I think it was really good to see.
“I’ve known many of them for a long time and played against them as juniors. I always want them to do well and vice versa.”
Canada’s Victoria Mboko (left) is congratulated by Clara Thorson.
“All over the place” – Sabalenka struggles to get past Potapova
Mboko’s prize was a last-16 tie with world No. 1 and two-time former champion Aryna Sabalenka, who was mercilessly far from her best as she stumbled against Anastasia Potapova before advancing 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7).
Sabalenka will need to step up from her error-filled performance against Emma Radukanu’s conqueror Potapova, who held four set points in the second set tie-break.
Belarus’ Alina Sabalenka (right) is congratulated by Anastasia Potapova
Sabalenka admitted she was emotionally “out of it” but showed grit again when needed, extending her record for open matches at a Grand Slam tournament to 19 consecutive tiebreak wins since losing to Karolina Muchova in the 2023 French Open semi-finals.
She expected a tough fight from Mboko, saying, “I have been in their shoes, so I don’t think their (teenagers) mentality is that they have nothing to lose. Still, they go into the match with the hope that they will win this tournament and it will be the young players who win the tournament.”
Gauff survives Baptiste’s horror
Third-seeded Coco Gauff battled back from a set down to defeat compatriot Haley Baptiste and advance to the fourth round.
The 21-year-old lost the first set 6-3, but made adjustments to her serve that laid the foundation for a comeback.
The American won the second set 6-0 and the third 6-3 to book a place in the last 16 against 19th seed Karolina Muchova.
Coco Gauff (left) is congratulated by fellow American Haley Baptiste.
“Haley played very well in the first set. If she had gotten a few points the way she wanted, maybe the result would have been different,” Gauff said.
“I didn’t change too much. I tried to get more first serves in. I tried to be more proactive with my serve placement and not be too passive.”
“To be honest, there were moments where I was a little too passive, so I’m just trying to find a balance with everyone else.
“I wasn’t too upset and was able to raise my level. I’m glad I stayed mentally calm.”
‘There were many rude moments’ – Putintseva slams audience
Yulia Putintseva slammed “rude” Australian Open fans after her third-round win over Zeynep Sonmez.
Sonmez became a crowd favorite after saving a fainting ball girl during his first-round victory, but Melbourne has a large Turkish community and attracted large numbers of Turks.
But it wasn’t enough to earn her a win against Kazakhstan’s Putintseva, who won 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3 and advanced to the fourth round in Melbourne for the first time.
Yulia Putintseva listens to a partisan crowd in Melbourne
Putintseva teased the crowd at the end, doing a celebratory dance, and fans responded with boos during her on-court interview.
“There’s always someone to support you, someone to cheer you on. That’s the great thing about this sport,” Putintseva said.
“But I think there were a lot of really disrespectful moments today where they were screaming between my first serve and second serve. Really loud, just to make me make a mistake.”
“I think it was 4-3. It was a big point and I opened the court really well. I took the forehand and my opponent started coughing just for my shot. I thought, ‘Okay, I can’t afford to lose this.’
“I was ready for everything, but I was ready to fight to the death out there. What can I do? It’s just that some people are educated in tennis and, unfortunately, some people are not.
“I’m really glad we stayed calm because last year Yulia was probably going to throw something at them at some point.”
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