Victoria Mboko’s run at the Canadian WTA 1000 event in Montreal was the tournament’s defining storyline. The unseeded, 85th-ranked wild card and 18-year-old Canadian arrived amid broader disruptions to the summer schedule, when both Canadian Masters events contended with high-profile withdrawals and calendar overlap with Cincinnati. Those issues did not stop Montreal from producing a champion who captured the nation.

Mboko had entered the week with momentum from her rookie season, which included four straight ITF titles without dropping a set. She grew into a crowd favorite as she progressed, highlighted by a fourth-round 6-1, 6-4 victory over No. 1 seed Coco Gauff. The final saw Mboko prevail over Naomi Osaka, but the semifinal against Elena Rybakina was the match that defined her title run.

Rybakina dominated early, taking the first set 6-1, but Mboko refused to relent. “I always think of sets as, like, checkpoints,” she said. “Once I finish the first set, I completely put it behind me, and I start a new little chapter…I put a lot more emphasis in my movement and my defending skills and what I’m supposed to do on court, and I try to sharpen up and clean up a lot of my mistakes.”

In the second set Mboko found angles and depth, building leads of 3-1 and 5-3 before converting a break at 6-5 with an inside-out backhand pass on double set point. The third set tested her physically; she fell and hurt her wrist in the second game yet continued to battle. Rybakina reached match point at 5-4, but Mboko answered with a short-hop forehand and forced an error to hold on. At deuce she produced decisive returns to break back and force a tiebreak.

The breaker showcased Mboko’s nerve. After trading errors and momentum swings she produced an inside-in forehand winner at 4-4 that put her two points from the match. Rybakina could not recover from 4-5, and Mboko advanced to the final to a raucous home crowd. “It’s unbelievable to even think about it,” said Mboko, who would finish the season another title, in Hong Kong, and a Top 25 ranking.

“I wanted as much as I can to put as many balls in the court and to fight as hard as I possibly could. I wanted to stay really calm as well.”

Ben Shelton finished 2025 having moved past the label of prospect. The 23-year-old began the year as an athlete and a star; by season’s end he had added the consistency to be called a player.

Armed with a 6’4 frame and a live left arm, Shelton arrived with a devastating serve-forehand combination and a personality suited to big moments. Early inconsistencies remained through the spring after a run to the Australian Open semifinals, but clay provided an unexpected turning point. He reached the Munich final and forced Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros, saying the slower courts helped him pick his spots to attack.

The summer consolidated that progress. Shelton made his first Wimbledon quarterfinal, captured his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto and climbed to a career-high No. 5. He credited practical changes for the leap: watching more film, leaning into his strengths and sharpening his return. “Seeing the plays you want to make before you make them, that’s been a big one for me.” “I feel like I have a good grasp now on the things that really work for me.” “I want to be one of the best returners in the world. I’m on my way.”

Still, the 2025 season also exposed the challenge ahead. Shelton sits between two tiers: clearly above most peers but behind the Carlos Alcaraz-Jannik Sinner ceiling. That in-between status requires both the ambition to upset the duopoly and the steadiness to remain ahead of the next group.

Health will be central. Shelton arrived at Flushing Meadows as a genuine title threat but a sudden shoulder injury ended his US Open abruptly. He returned later to clinch a maiden ATP Finals berth but went 0-3 in round-robin play and fell from No. 5 to No. 9 after one poor week.

On the head-to-head front he faces a steep climb: Sincaraz lead Shelton by a combined 11-1. “If you want to win a big title these days, that’s who you’ve got to go through,” conceded Shelton at the US Open. “I think that, you know, for me, I get too far ahead of myself, and next thing you know you trip over your own feet and you don’t even give yourself a chance to get started,” he added, aiming to focus on creating opportunities rather than fixating on opponents. The question for 2026 is whether he can stay healthy, keep refining his game and make that final leap.

Nominated for the WTA Newcomer of the Year award, 19-year-old Victoria Mboko was presented the key to her hometown, Burlington, Ontario, in a ceremony at a newly opened community centre. City officials said the award recognises an “inspiring” rise on the WTA tour. Mboko was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and has lived in Canada since she was two months old. Burlington, with a population of nearly 200,000 at the southwestern end of Lake Ontario, has given keys to notable residents since 2019.

Secretary of State for Sport Adam van Koeverden pointed to Mboko’s August run through the Omnium Banque Nationale in Montreal and said it “stole the hearts of Canadians.” In her second WTA 1000 main draw, Mboko stormed to a historic title, defeating among others Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Naomi Osaka. “We’ve always had great tennis players in Canada, but … whether we had watched tennis before or not, everyone was a tennis fan for those weeks,” he said.

Local politician Angelo Bentivegna described Mboko’s progress as “has been nothing short of inspiring.” “You’ve shown determination, humility and strength beyond your years,” he said. “While the world sees a champion, we see someone who reflects the heart and spirit of Burlington.” Mboko returned the praise to her community and posed for photos with students from the nearby Ascension Catholic School.

She has already climbed more than 300 spots in the WTA rankings this year and, despite still being a teenager, said she wants to do more for local tennis. “The community here is so welcoming and friendly,” she said. “We have almost everything we need around here and I have been and continue to be so blessed to live here and have the opportunities my family created for me. It’s something I don’t take lightly and I’ve set out as a goal in the future for myself to help provide and create opportunities for others. To that extent, if I were to ever have one wish, it’d be to have more tennis courts here in Burlington.”