Eugenie Bouchard witnessed one of the most seismic upsets of the 2025 Canadian Open, and she wasn’t shy about showing her pride. The former World No. 5 lit up Instagram with enthusiastic support for fellow Canadian Victoria Mboko after the 18-year-old wildcard toppled top seed Coco Gauff in straight sets.
From the middle of a studio shoot, Bouchard captured the moment when Mboko clinched the biggest win of her young career, celebrating it with a heartfelt message.
Eugenie Bouchard Lauds Victoria Mboko’s Breakthrough After Stunning Win Over Coco Gauff
Mboko, who began the year ranked outside the top 300, entered the 2025 National Bank Open ranked No. 85. She cruised through her early rounds, dispatching Kimberly Birrell, 23rd seed Sofia Kenin, and Marie Bouzková to set a fourth-round clash with reigning French Open champion Gauff.
In just over an hour, Mboko shocked the top-seeded American 6-1, 6-4, evening their head-to-head to 1-1 and avenging a tight three-set loss from the Italian Open earlier this season. With this victory, Mboko will shoot up to No. 53 in the live WTA rankings, a massive jump for the 18-year-old who had been playing ITF events less than a year ago.
Pressure? What pressure
Victoria Mboko reaches her first ever WTA 1000 quarterfinal after taking out the top seed Gauff 6-1, 6-4.#OBN25 pic.twitter.com/S3X8ttdadw
— wta (@WTA) August 3, 2025
Bouchard’s Instagram Story surfaced shortly after Mboko sealed the win on center court. Posted during a studio shoot, the image showed Bouchard glued to a monitor, watching Mboko celebrate her victory.
“Vicky!!!!” Bouchard captioned the image.
Just days earlier, the 31-year-old Montreal native had played the final singles match of her professional career at the same tournament as a wildcard. After scoring her first singles win in nearly two years against Emiliana Arango in the opening round, Bouchard bowed out in a tight three-set battle to Belinda Bencic.
Bouchard gave it her all, but it wasn’t enough against Bencic.
Congrats to Genie on a great career #OBN25 pic.twitter.com/CbumjuhIkA
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) July 31, 2025
Once the face of Canadian tennis after her meteoric rise to the 2014 Wimbledon final, Bouchard now finds herself as a cheerleader for the next generation.
‘Kind of Shocked About It All’: Mboko on Her Victory Over Gauff
During her post-match press conference after defeating Gauff in the fourth round, Mboko reflected on the biggest win of her career and opened up about how she was feeling in the moment.
“It was one of the biggest matches I could have played,” she said. “I feel really happy with how it went. Playing Coco [Gauff] is obviously never easy. She’s No. 2 in the world, and it’s been such a great opportunity for me to play against someone like her. I was just happy I kept my composure today and I pulled it through.”
She added, “I don’t even know what to say still. I was kind of shocked about it all; everything kind of came so fast. There were so many people. So, I feel like tonight I’ll let it soak in a little bit more, but I’m still on the high a little bit. I’m super happy and content with how things went today and that I get to move on to the next round.”
MORE: ‘I Knew’ – Coco Gauff Reveals Her Honest Feelings After Shocking Loss to Victoria Mboko in Montreal
Mboko advanced to the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tournament, where she will face Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. This will be their first meeting on the WTA Tour, and the winner will face either 24th seed Marta Kostyuk or ninth seed Elena Rybakina in the semifinals.
The 18-year-old also played doubles with compatriot Kayla Cross; however, they lost in the first round to Jiang Xinyu and Chan Hao-ching.
