Canada will have to keep waiting for a singles win over a women’s world No. 1. Like their clash at the Australian Open, Victoria Mboko gave world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka a fight on Thursday in the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open, but the top seed’s firepower proved too much as Mboko’s first appearance in Indian Wells ended with a straight-set defeat in the final eight.
For most of the day, Mboko was able to go toe-to-toe with the four-time major winner. However, Sabalenka was too solid in the clutch moments, hanging on for a 7-6(0), 6-4 win.
In her on-court interview, Sabalenka was full of praise for the 19-year-old, referring to her as “a future Grand Slam champion for sure.”
Despite only dropping serve once, Mboko found herself having to battle on her own delivery for much of the day. She did manage to win 73 per cent of her first serve points, but double-faulted seven times and only won 46 per cent of her second serve points. She faced eight break points in the match, saving seven, but failed to convert any of her five opportunities.`
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Coming in hot after dominant wins over Anna Kalinskaya and Amanda Anisimova, Mboko put Sabalenka under pressure early. In the third game, the world No. 1 misfired three forehands to give her young opponent break points chances, but Sabalenka showed why she currently holds the top spot, ripping a pair of aces and executing a clever drop shot to erase the threat.
From there, Sabalenka settled in and Mboko found herself having to defend her own serve. But the teen was not giving the four-time Grand Slam singles champion an inch, fighting back from 15-40 down in the sixth game with an ace and perfect drop volley and then saving another break point with a huge serve in the eighth game.
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Both women held serve with relative ease heading into the tiebreak, where Sabalenka took charge. It was one-way traffic for the world No. 1 as some shaky errors early from Mboko gave Sabalenka a quick lead. The top seed swept the breaker 7-0 to take the opening set.
Sabalenka kept pressing at the start of the second set, keeping the Mboko serve under constant pressure. The Canadian kept pulling out all the stops, digging out of another 15-40 hole at 1-1 with a drop volley and a forehand winner, but she could only play with fire for so long. In her next service game at 2-2, Mboko sent a forehand long to go down 30-40 and then finally cracked on the seventh break point in the match, sending her backhand long.
Down a break for the first time all day, the 19-year-old was not going away quietly. In each of Sabalenka’s next two service games, Mboko had looks at love-30 and had two break points at 3-4. However, she missed her returns on both and the world No. 1 did not give her another chance. When it came time to serve for the match, Sabalenka did not trail in the game and finished it off on her first match point.
Even in defeat, Mboko is projected to reach a new career-high ranking of No. 9 in the world on Monday. She will hit that mark as long as Linda Noskova does not win the title.
Feature Photo : Sarah-Jade Champagne
