SportsTennis

Victoria Mboko's parents had epic reactions throughout NBO win

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
|
Aug 8 2025, 4:08 pm
Victoria Mboko's parents had epic reactions throughout NBO win
@Sportsnet/X

Being the parent of an athlete can be quite stressful, as fully proven by Victoria Mboko’s parents last night.

Mboko’s parents were in attendance at IGA Stadium on Thursday night, where they watched their daughter pull off an incredible upset victory over Naomi Osaka to win the National Bank Open.

It was a thrilling win for the 18-year-old Canadian, who wound up jumping from No. 85 all the way to No. 24 in world rankings.

While she was able to pick up the big victory, it didn’t come easily. In fact, she lost the opening set 2-6, before storming back with 6-4 and 6-1 wins over the four-time Grand Slam champion in Osaka. Her parents’ reactions throughout the match told the tale of how stressful it was.

Mboko’s mom was extremely animated throughout, wearing her emotions on her sleeve for the entirety of the match. She was often spotted clapping and shouting words of encouragement through her daughter during the match. Her husbands reaction, however, was far different.

Rather than getting tied up in the emotions that often come during a tennis match, Mboko’s father was far more stoic, seemingly wanting to do his best to remain calm. That said, later in the match he began letting his guard down, and at one point was even spotted standing with a massive smile on his face while his wife gave him a big hug.

ā€œI think when I had that winning moment and seeing so many people standing up and cheering for me, it was kind of a surreal experience,ā€ said Mboko, who earned $752,275 for the win. ā€œI would have never thought something like this would have come so suddenly. So I’m super happy for that and I think it just proves that your dreams are closer than they [seem].ā€

With the win, Mboko became the first Canadian singles champion in the event since Bianca Andreescu did the same back in 2019. The 18-year-old has cemented herself in Canadian tennis history and appears to only be getting started. That not only means more thrilling matches in the future, but likely some more hilarious and epic reactions from her parents along the way.

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