Simon Rea, another guest on The Tennis this week, remembers Mboko’s WTA 1000 main-draw debut in Miami, where she won her first-round match then stretched 10th seed Paula Badosa to a third-set tiebreak.
“I watched her play in Miami, and the weapons leapt off the court at you, literally, in terms of the heat she brings – not just on first serve, but on second serve. Both serves are a legitimate weapon for her,” said Rea, a former coach of Nick Kyrgios and Sam Stosur.
“She’s got a great team around her; [1998 Wimbledon finalist] Nathalie Tauziat and the Tennis Canada federation are supporting her really strongly.
“I just feel like there’s a physicality about her that’s so impressive. [Watching her] it just felt like a player that, to me, wasn’t going to miss.
“And sure enough, three, four, five months down the track, she’s on the verge of being seeded at Grand Slam time.”
Osaka, meanwhile, has joined Mboko in the top 25 after her performance in Canada, her highest ranking since January 2022.