When it takes the World No. 1 to stop you, you know you’re playing great tennis.
That was Victoria Mboko’s reality in her first appearance at the Australian Open last week, as the Canadian teen continued her rise up the WTA Tour ladder early in 2026.
Here’s what you need to know.
In Case You Missed It: Mboko Keeps Improving at Australian Open
The Australian Open was the final major for Victoria Mboko to make her first appearance as a pro, but it was her best result yet at a Slam. The 17th seed looked right at home in Melbourne Park, reaching the fourth round of a major for the first time in her career.
Mboko did not drop a set in her first two wins over Emerson Jones and Caty McNally. She then took out No. 14 Clara Tauson in a three-set thriller to beat her previous-best result at a major, the third round of Roland-Garros last year, by getting to the last sixteen for the first time.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka put an end to the teen’s breakthrough run in straight sets in the fourth round.
Still, just by reaching round four, Mboko will hit a new career-high ranking next Monday. She is currently projected to enter the Top 15, potentially as high as No. 13.
Mboko’s run salvaged what was a difficult first major of the year in the singles draws for the Canadians. Only Denis Shapovalov also made it out of the first round, beating Yunchaokete Bu before falling in round two against Marin Cilic.
The other five Canadians in singles all went out in the first round. Gabriel Diallo lost to world No. 3 Alexander Zverev, while Liam Draxl was beaten in his Grand Slam debut by Damir Dzumhur. Leylah Annie Fernandez was upset by Janice Tjen. Félix Auger-Aliassime and Marina Stakusic both retired in their first-round matches due to heat-related cramping.
Canada had a little more success in doubles.
Gabriela Dabrowski is still alive in women’s doubles, having reached the quarter-finals in her first event reunited with Luisa Stefani. The fifth seeds have not dropped a set so far, scoring wins over McCartney Kessler and Jessica Pegula, Emiliana Arango and Elsa Jacquemot, and ninth seeds Cristina Busca and Nicole Melichar Martinez.
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Busca and Melichar Martinez had beaten Fernandez and Timea Babos in the first round in three sets. Mboko got to the second round of the doubles with fellow teen sensation Iva Jovic before losing a thriller 12-10 in the third-set tiebreak against fourth seeds Elise Mertens and Shuai Zheng.
Fernandez did get one win in Melbourne in mixed doubles, teaming up with Nick Kyrgios to beat Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski 12-10 in the match tiebreak of their first-round match. However, the Canadian-Aussie pair were dispatched in the second round by Anna Danilina and JJ Tracy in straight sets.
Dabrowski teamed up with Brit Luke Johnson in the mixed but lost in the first round to Aussies Maya Joint and Matthew Romios.
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What to Watch: Shaw’s Last Hurrah in Melbourne
Canada’s most-decorated wheelchair tennis player, Rob Shaw, will be competing in his final professional event this week at the Australian Open. He is competing in both the quad singles and quad doubles with Brazil’s Ymanitu Silva.
The draw gods were not kind to Shaw in his final event, as he drew No. 2 seed Sam Schroder in singles. In doubles, the Canadian and his Brazilian partner will play Gregory Slade and Benjamin Wenzel in the first round. With a win, they could face top seeds Guy Sasson and Niels Vink in the semifinals.
Shaw is Canada’s all-time title leader in wheelchair tennis, with 54 ITF Tour titles (singles and doubles) to his name.
Gabriela Dabrowski’s quest for a third women’s doubles major title, and first at the Australian Open, will go through a familiar foe, Jelena Ostapenko and her partner Su-Wei Hsieh, in the quarter-finals. Ostapenko has beaten Dabrowski in Melbourne each of the last two years, both times in the semifinals. Last year, alongside Hsieh, the Latvian edged the Canadian and Erin Routliffe in a tight three-setter.
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If they can solve Ostapenko, Dabrowski and Stefani could face top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend in the semifinals if the Czech-American team beat seventh seeds Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic.
The only other Canadian left in Melbourne is Nadia Lagaev, who is competing in the junior events. Seeded 14th in singles, she won her first-round match in straight sets and is up against Antonia Stoyanov next, with No. 3 seed Ksenia Efremova potentially waiting in round three.
Lagaev is seeded eighth in the girls doubles with Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine and the pair are also through to round two. They meet the American tandem of Chukwumelije Clarke and Nancy Lee in round two. There is only one other seeded team left in their half of the draw, No. 5 Mariella Thamm and Ruien Zhang, who could be their semifinal opponents.
Dani Szabo was competing in the boys doubles event but lost in the first round.
Under the Radar: Harper on the Board in 2026
Canada’s top men’s doubles player, Cleeve Harper, picked up his first title of the year over the weekend, claiming the ATP Challenger doubles crown in Oeiras, Portugal, alongside Brit David Stevenson.
The pair cruised into the final without dropping a set but had to dig deep against local wildcards Francisco Rocha and Tiago Torres. Harper and Stevenson held their nerve, edging out the match tiebreak 12-10 to secure the trophy.
It is Harper’s seventh title on the ATP Challenger Tour in his career. He will look to go back-to-back this week in Oeiras at another Challenger event. Davis Cup teammate Alexis Galarneau is also competing.
Bianca Andreescu’s bid for back-to-back titles on the ITF Tour came up just short last week in Weston, Florida. The former US Open champion lost in the semifinals of the W35 event to eventual champion Akasha Urhobo in three sets.
Andreescu will up the ante this week, competing at a W75 in Vero Beach, Florida.
There is a large contingent of Canadians, including Davis Cup team member Liam Draxl, competing at the combined ATP Challenger/ITF W100 event in San Diego this week.
You can follow the Canadians in action every week here.
The Davis Cup returns to Canada in February as Canada hosts Brazil in the Qualifiers First Round in Vancouver, Feb. 6-7 at UBC's Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Tickets are on sale. Get yours now!
Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak
