VICTORIA MBOKO SUFFERS DEVASTATING SETBACK AS 1,000 RANKING POINTS DISAPPEAR AFTER MISSING CANADIAN OPEN

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A massive blow for Victoria Mboko. The 19-year-old has been forced to withdraw from the Canadian Open, thus failing to defend her title and set to lose a whopping 1000 points in the process, with a ranking drop imminent.

It has been a very promising season for Mboko who has again lived up to the hype since that stunning breakthrough tournament in Montreal. She stunned the tennis world that week enroute to WTA 1000 glory but has since backed it up with a string of eye-catching performances and runs.

She has backed it up with a plethora of WTA finals and more deep runs in big tournaments, cementing herself as a top 10 player and a force to be reckoned with on court. She was hopeful of debuting in the WTA Finals at the end of the year while challenging for more silverware. The chances of that happening has diminished vastly.

It was a special moment for Mboko to step out onto court alongside 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, partnering the American on her return to action following a four-year spell away from the court. After their win, all focus was on the singles for the time being. She was taking on Karolina Pliskova, but their contest would be halted following a nasty slip.

Mboko was on the ground in a lot of pain as fans feared the worse. Her tournament ended on the spot as she struggled to walk and put too much pressure on it. She would soon pull out of all the grass tournaments, most notably Wimbledon, but it gets worse for Mboko.

Confirming the news as fellow WTA players respond

The way the Canadian Open works, it is split between Montreal and Toronto, with the men playing in one city and the women the other. Having grown up near Toronto, this would be as home of an event as possible for Mboko.

This was firmly on her mind going into 2026 as she looked to build up a points buffer in case she was not able to defend all the points won when going back to participate. It was one of the most unlikely WTA runs witnessed.

She was ranked outside the top 300, but defeated the likes of Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina before taking down Naomi Osaka in the final to seal the title on home soil. It was a huge moment as she well and truly burst onto the scene, rising into the top 32 as an 18-year-old.

Victoria Mboko won the 2025 Canadian Open, but due to injury will not be able to defend it. Proshots

Any ambitions of defending that title have been extinguished. In a video posted on her Instagram, she had a knee brace on her left knee while walking gingerly. She said: “Everything kind of happened so fast. There were so many emotions going through my mind. It’s only a little setback, and I want to be a better person out of this. Toronto was a tournament that I always went to growing up. The National Bank Open also holds a special place in my heart. Knowing that I won’t be able to play this year is very saddening, but I feel like l have so many more years ahead of me to play this tournament.”

She has seen a huge amount of support coming in. Gauff, Eva Lys, Marta Kostyuk, Peyton Stearns, Sloane Stephens and Carson Branstine have all sent comments underneath the post. The event, which takes place from August 2-13, is too soon for Mboko who will continue to sit on the sidelines.

Ranking drop on the horizon

The harsh reality is that now Mboko is in danger of losing a number of ranking points. What she earned last year got her very far up the order, but it could also push her down it.

With the latter stages of Wimbledon set to be played out, Mboko is currently sitting in 10th. Her top 10 status is very much under threat as Kostyuk and Noskova lurk behind. If she was to lose 1000 points now, that would leave her with 2,580 points. That is sufficient enough for a drop of six places to 16th in the current WTA Live Rankings.

WTA Live Rankings as of 8/7 - if Mboko loses 1000 points

It could have been a lot worse if it was not for her good form this year. She has made three WTA finals, losing them all, including the Qatar Open. A brace of quarter-finals in the Sunshine swing has also helped her progress, but it is still a bitter blow for Mboko.

She will be hoping to come back stronger than ever. Tournaments like the Cincinnati Open and US Open are also huge doubts with the Asian swing also under threat depending on how serious the injury is.

- Lucas Michael

EMMA RADUCANU DEFEATS PEYTON STEARNS IN KOREAN OPEN 1ST ROUND

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Emma Raducanu has progressed to the second round of the Korean Open after defeating Peyton Stearns in straight sets on Tuesday.

Raducanu, playing for the first time since her first-round defeat to Sofia Kenin at the US Open, came through a difficult contest against the American, who is ranked No. 48 in the world.

Both sets went to tie breaks and it was far from a straightforward affair for the British world No. 70, who was visibly exhausted at the end of the second set after a match that lasted two hours and 43 minutes.

Stearns and Raducanu both struggled to hold serve, each being broken six times, with the tie breaks hinging on some powerful baseline hitting from the 2021 US Open winner.

"I'm proud to have made it through to the next round. It was tough. It was very humid, the ball was bouncing around a lot," Raducanu said after the win.

"It was a tough match to get through. I haven't played many matches in the last few months and Peyton, she's a really good player and on really good form. I'm really pleased."

Raducanu didn't qualify automatically for the tournament in Seoul but was handed a lifeline when Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina, Karolina Pliskova and Emma Navarro all withdrew from the competition.

She will now face Yue Yuan in the round of 16, a stern test given the Chinese player's world ranking of No. 40.

- ESPN

GAUFF 'FUELLED' BY UMPIRE ROW TO ADVANCE IN DUBAI

Reuters 

 Coco Gauff said a heated exchange with the chair umpire midway through her match with Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday had spurred her on to complete a 2-6 6-4 6-3 victory and reach the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

The U.S. Open champion lost the first set but was leading 4-2 in the second when her first serve at deuce, which Pliskova returned into the net, was called out.

The American challenged the call and her review was successful but instead of awarding Gauff the point French chair umpire Pierre Bacchi told the 19-year-old to replay it.

That sparked a lengthy back-and-forth between the pair, with Guaff's repeated requests to speak to a supervisor denied by the umpire.

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PLAYERS FACE 'MENTAL TORTURE' AT WIMBLEDON | SAYS SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST

Reuters

Tennis club hackers know only too well the paralysing nerves that can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory but they are in good company with even the elite players at Wimbledon suffering 'mental torture', according to a leading sports psychologist.

The All England Club's lawns will be the focus of the tennis world over the next fortnight as the world's leading players battle opponents and often their own psychological demons.

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