Victoria Mboko, ranked No. 85, has emerged as a remarkable talent at the 2025 Canadian Open, making history as only the third wildcard to reach the semi-finals in the tournament’s history. The 18-year-old Canadian, making her debut at this event in Montreal, has delivered an impressive run marked by significant victories.

After three solid wins in the opening rounds, Mboko stunned the crowd by defeating second seed Coco Gauff, marking the first top-10 win of her career. She continued her strong form with a quarter-final victory over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and is set to face ninth seed Elena Rybakina in the semi-final. Remarkably, this match comes just two weeks after Mboko lost to Rybakina in Washington.

Regardless of her semi-final result, Mboko’s outstanding performances will see her break into the top 50 of the WTA Rankings for the first time following the tournament. The 2025 season has been one of steady progress for Mboko, climbing from outside the top 300 at the start of the year to her current ranking inside the top 100.

Nathalie Tauziat, former world No. 3 and 1998 Wimbledon finalist, has played a crucial role in this ascent. Initially coaching Mboko as a junior, Tauziat rejoined her team in 2025 and witnessed the player win 22 consecutive matches at ITF level before making breakthrough appearances at the French Open and Wimbledon.

Tauziat praises Mboko’s growing confidence and mental composure: “Since the beginning of the year, she win [sic] so many matches. I think what is important also for her is to see us not panic when something happen. I remember at the beginning of the year, she always told me: ‘Oh, you’re so calm during the match.’ I say: ‘You know what, it’s just a match. I mean, I can help you, but if I show you I am on panic myself, I mean, it’s going to be worse for you, so why do you want me to panic? I’m not panicking. It’s just a match, and I’m here to help you.’”

Mboko’s technical skills and attitude also stand out. Tauziat highlighted her powerful serve and eagerness to learn: “I think she believes in herself. I think also, she has the power maybe more. She has a very good serve. Not a lot of players have a good serve. She likes to learn. She likes to improve. So I think it’s important.”

With a track record of coaching rising Canadian stars such as Eugenie Bouchard, Bianca Andreescu, and Leylah Fernandez, Tauziat brings a wealth of experience to Mboko’s development. Yet she remains cautious about Mboko’s future, emphasizing the importance of maintaining focus: “It’s complicated to say because right now, of course, her [Mboko’s] standing is going to change, with the players first. After, as I say, some players who rise very high level young, sometimes they lost the priority. So what is going to be very important for Vicky is to keep the priority of tennis first over many things around. I think it would be very important for her to stay, and some players don’t do that. You can go up, but if you’re not continuing to progress and work hard, I mean, you can go down very quickly.”

Renowned tennis coach Rick Macci has offered a precise technical diagnosis and solution for Coco Gauff’s ongoing struggles with her second serve, which has been a recurring issue throughout her career. Despite her rising status as the world No. 2 and recent French Open champion, Gauff has been notable for an uncommonly high number of double faults.

In 2024, the American hit 430 double faults over 71 matches, the highest on the WTA Tour. This problematic trend has continued in 2025, with 250 double faults in 41 matches, leading the tour by a wide margin — 57 more than the next closest player, Linda Noskova. Her second serve was particularly problematic at the 2025 Canadian Open in Montreal, where she recorded 23 double faults in her opening round victory, the fifth-most ever in a WTA match.

Macci, whose coaching legacy includes guiding several future world No. 1 players, singled out Gauff as a player he would like to advise. “To consult or help someone, obviously right off the bat, it would be Coco Gauff,” he said. “I mean, there’s no doubt about it, I could flip the script with her second serve and forehand. No doubt about it, but it’d have to be done in the off-season.”

He explained that despite the widespread commentary on Gauff’s serve, many diagnoses mistakenly focus on superficial symptoms rather than the root cause. Macci emphasized a biomechanical approach, noting Gauff’s unique physiology, including her long arms and loose arm structure, combined with entrenched muscle memory developed since childhood.

Macci proposed switching Gauff’s stance from pinpoint to a platform stance to reset and reprogram muscle reflexes. This approach would change the timing and vertical motion components of her serve, critical to correcting her faults. “In one hour, this could be corrected,” Macci asserted. “But as long as she keeps doing pinpoint, it’s all just gonna be like, just a modification of something that she’s just wired.”

Macci also mentioned his close ties with Gauff’s family, noting her younger brother trains at his academy and that they had opportunities to work during past off-seasons that were bypassed when Gauff’s results improved.

Ahead of the 2025 Cincinnati Open, Diana Shnaider was spotted with her new coach Sascha Bajin at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, confirming recent reports of their partnership. Bajin, best known for coaching Naomi Osaka to two Grand Slam titles and for being Serena Williams’ longtime hitting partner, is the latest in Shnaider’s coaching journey after parting ways with Igor Andreev last season. Earlier stints included working with Dinara Safina, who provided valuable mental game guidance before Shnaider and Safina split in May. Shnaider, currently ranked No. 17, reached a career-high of No. 11 in May and recently made the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Shnaider has struggled to find consistent form since, with just one occasion of back-to-back match wins since Rome. She entered the US Open swing with a first-round loss in Montréal to Marie Bouzkova and will be seeded No. 14 in Cincinnati, the last WTA 1000 event before the US Open.

Also observed at Cincinnati was Emma Raducanu alongside Francisco Roig, a longtime member of Rafael Nadal’s coaching team. This follows reports that Raducanu had brought Roig on board. Raducanu has been working unofficially with Mark Petchey throughout much of 2025, who was part of her team during her 2021 US Open title run. After starting the year ranked No. 60, Raducanu climbed back toward the top 10 and recently reached the semifinal at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, positioning herself well for a seeded place at the upcoming US Open.