Victoria Mboko has announced her arrival on the world stage of tennis.

On Thursday (August 7), Mboko came from behind to defeat a rejuvenated Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the Canadian Open, earning the first WTA title of her career in front of her hometown crowd in Montreal.

By defeating Osaka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Sofia Kenin, the 18-year-old sensation has become the second-youngest player ever to defeat four Grand Slam champions in a single tournament, ESPN reported. The feat was first accomplished by the legendary Serena Williams at the 1999 US Open.

Mboko is also just the third wild card to win a WTA 1000 title event, following Maria Sharapova at Cincinnati in 2011 and Andreescu at Indian Wells in 2019. Her history-making performance marks the second-lowest-ranked player to win a WTA 1000 since the stat began being tracked in 1990.

Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, before the family relocated to Toronto, her parents, Cyprien Mboko and Godee Kitadi, fled the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the political turmoil in 1999. It was in Toronto that she developed her love for tennis along with her siblings.

Following her dramatic victory, Mboko was overcome with emotion.

“I want to thank Naomi for an incredible match," Mboko said in her victory address. "I always looked up to her when I was really little. It’s always great to play with such an amazing player like you.”

“It's been an incredible week here in Montreal," Mboko said to the raucous crowd, adding "I love you!" in French.

After the match, Osaka expressed her thankfulness for her remarkable comeback during the tournament.

“This morning I was very grateful. I don’t know why my emotions flipped so quickly, but I’m really happy to have played the final,” Osaka said.

Although she came into the tournament as a wild card, Gauff  said she was playing “some of the best tennis in the world, and it was only a matter of time before her ranking and the wins reflected it.” 

“I want to thank every single one of you who came out to support me all week,” Mboko told the crowd during the trophy ceremony. “You guys were incredible.”