Howdy, y’all and Happy Tennis Tuesday! I’m actually writing this week’s column from Vancouver which ironically coincided the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal, the Omnium Banque Nationale. It’s been really refreshing to walk by bars and restaurants and constantly see the coverage from the tournament — likely because of two stars for two different reasons.
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Genie Bouchard, once the face of Canadian tennis and a trailblazer for the WTA in North America, officially said goodbye to the sport she helped bring into the mainstream. It was a choice filled with intention — retiring in the city where she first fell in love with tennis and where she dreamed of playing center court as a little girl. She walked away with a win in her opening match, a warm embrace from fans, and something many athletes don’t get: closure.
Ironically just as Bouchard was waving goodbye, another player was announcing her arrival.
18-year-old Victoria Mboko, a wildcard recipient who just broke into the Top 100, has officially announced herself to the tennis world. She gave top seed Coco Gauff one of the worst losses of her career. She followed up with a win against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro to become the third teenager this year to make the semifinals of a WTA 1000. She’s also the youngest Canadian woman to ever reach that stage in a WTA 1000.
In the same week Bouchard stepped away, Mboko stepped in the doors opened by the former. Talk about symmetry.
Bouchard’s 2014 season that included a Wimbledon final, two other Grand Slam semifinals, a WTA singles title and Top 5 breakthrough (the first Canadian woman to crack that ceiling) wasn’t just a moment. It was a shift. She made tennis visible for the entire country. For the first time, girls across Canada could imagine themselves on the global stage. Mboko is the embodiment of that visibility becoming reality. Her run in Montreal is proof that the pipeline works, that legacy matters and that visibility can change everything.
What’s also really great about Mboko’s rising is that she’s a perfect example of the new generation of Canada. One that reflects a broader, more diverse tennis world. She’s young, Black, fearless, and ready. Her rise so far has been meteoric as well. She’s already racked up 50 wins in 2025 and is set to break the Top 50 next week when she ended last season ranked No. 350.
It’s a narrative of transition with Bouchard’s final curtain raised the spotlight and so far Mboko is dazzling under the lights.
On to links!
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This Week in Women’s Tennis
If she already wasn’t dope enough, Billie Jean King is back in school to finish her undergraduate degree at Cal State LA.
The Cincinnati Open is about to take place and the renovations they’ve done are quite amazing, while Montreal continues to improve their operations with the extra week being added to their event.
Bianca Andreescu injured her ankle on match point in her opening round win in Montreal last week and is unsure of when she’ll be back on court.
While college tennis teams are trying to survive mass cuts, the case for tournament prize money by UNC player Reese Brantmeier now has a trial date for next year.
Congratulations to Monica Puig, who gave birth to her first child and Shelby Rogers, who announced she’s expecting:
Former ATP player Ross Hutchins has been appointed the ITF’s new CEO.
It was really cool to see Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons give a tribute to Genie Bouchard after her final match.
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Five at The IX: Montreal Week 1
Q. The story is yet to be written in this tournament, but this is so far your best result in a 500 or more tournament this season. Do you allow yourself to enjoy it, or do you want to push it back until the tournament is over?
NAOMI OSAKA: Honestly, I am allowing myself to enjoy it, and I think for me it’s kind of ironic just because I don’t find myself it’s really hard to describe, but I don’t want it as bad, which is kind of weird to say.
I’m kind of just allowing myself to I guess see what the results of my practicing is and, like, all that other jazz. I’m happy with where my tennis will take me no matter what happens.
Q. How much do you realize what you just did tonight?
VICTORIA MBOKO: Yeah, I mean (smiling) —
Q. Have you put it in perspective?
VICTORIA MBOKO: 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.
I feel like tonight I let it soak in a little bit more, but I’m still kind of on the high a little bit. But no, I’m super happy, and I’m just really content with how things went today and that I get to move on to the next round.
Q. How do you move forward from this? US Open is not too far away. I know it hasn’t been the best run of late.
JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, it hasn’t been great, to be honest. I don’t really feel like I’m playing great tennis. At times I am, but I feel very up and down, kind of sloppy, which I don’t like. It really bothers me. I’m kind of a perfectionist, so I don’t like having to say that.
I feel like I’ve gone through phases in my career, a few tournaments, where I feel like that sometimes, and you have to figure out how to get out of it and not feel sorry for yourself or make excuses. I’ve got figure it out.
You have to do it in those moments in matches where you’re in that moment where you have to compete and figure things out. I don’t think I’ve been able to do it great the last couple of matches, so hopefully going into Cincy I think that’s definitely going to be my main focus every single match is focusing on those big points and those big games because I do think I am playing some good tennis to get up in these matches, and there’s times where I’m reeling off six, seven really good games, and then it kind of falls away.
So I’ve got to figure out how to kind of sustain that higher level against these good players.
Q. You used the word “unreal” on the court when describing this win. What is unreal about it? Is it about beating Iga, and can you just define exactly what you meant?
CLARA TAUSON: Yeah, I played Iga three times before, and I’ve been close two of the times. Yeah, I just felt like after I won the first set that I needed to continue, because I know she’s never going to give up, and she’s going to come out firing no matter what.
Yeah, I think obviously getting a win against her after losing to her in Wimbledon and a couple of weeks ago is obviously nice, because I was not feeling great in that match, and I felt like I was playing some good tennis in Wimbledon. So I felt like if I could keep that going, I thought I had a shot. It’s really nice to sit here now.
Q. Why do you think it was so difficult to find a rhythm in this tournament?
COCO GAUFF: I don’t know. That’s a good question, honestly. I felt like in practice I was playing well the last few weeks just practicing. I decided to take some time off and not play D.C. to actually focus on that, and maybe that wasn’t the right decision. Maybe it was better to get more matches under my belt.
But you know, it’s the first tournament on the hard court season, so I’m hoping that in Cincy and in New York I can find that rhythm.
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |
