Victoria Mboko and Iva Jovic spearheaded a teenage surge at the Australian Open as a new generation continued to make its mark in Melbourne, underlining the growing depth and confidence of the women’s tour.
Mboko’s rapid ascent up the rankings gathered further momentum as the 19-year-old Canadian reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time. She came through a testing encounter with 14th seed Clara Tauson, winning 7-6, 5-7. 6-3 in a match that highlighted both her talent and resilience.
The teenager, who is also a confirmed entrant for the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open at the end of the month, appeared poised for a straight-sets victory after serving for the match in the second set and holding three match points, only for Tauson to mount a spirited fightback. Mboko, however, showed maturity beyond her years to reset in the decider, reasserting control to book her place in the last 16.
Shortly afterwards, American teenager Jovic, who turned 18 last month, upstaged Mboko’s achievement by eliminating seventh seed Jasmine Paolini. Jovic dominated the opening set before holding firm in a second-set tie-break to claim a 6-2, 7-6 victory, marking the biggest win of her young career.
Mboko and Jovic were two of five teenagers to reach the third round of the women’s singles. Czech debutantes Tereza Valentova and Nikola Bartunkova have also impressed, while Mirra Andreeva, though now an established presence on the tour, is still only 18.
“There’s a lot of us teenagers on the tour who are actually still in the tournament right now,” Mboko said. “I think it’s really nice to see. I’ve known a lot of them for such a long time, played against them in the juniors. I always want them to do well and vice versa.”
Mboko’s reward is a fourth-round meeting with world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who survived a wobble against Anastasia Potapova to win 7-6, 7-6. Sabalenka, 27, is a veteran by comparison and reflected on the speed at which the sport’s youngest stars are adapting to elite success.
“I feel like, for me, it would be really tough to handle the success at a young age,” Sabalenka said. “Now, seeing these girls so young achieving so much, playing such great tennis, being really mature, it’s incredible.”
Mboko played down any suggestion she is unusually advanced for her age. “Honestly, I don’t feel like I’m that much more mature or anything,” she said. “Coming on tour this early can make you more mature in a way. You just learn a lot more things quicker.”
The Canadian’s rise has been swift. She was not ranked highly enough to enter qualifying in Melbourne last year but is now seeded 17th, her progress capped by a breakthrough WTA 1000 title in Montreal last summer, where she beat Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Naomi Osaka.
Elsewhere, third seed Gauff survived her first serious test of the tournament, fighting back from a set down to defeat fellow American Hailey Baptiste 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, as the established contenders continue to feel the pressure from an increasingly fearless teenage cohort.
