Victoria Mboko moved just one step away from winning her third career title on Saturday.
The Canadian lost in the Qatar Open final to Czech Karolina Muchova in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.
Nonetheless, Mboko’s campaign will see her break into the top 10 of the WTA rankings for the first time, making her the seventh Canadian to achieve the feat on either the men’s or women’s rosters.
Mboko had a poor performance against Muchova, facing eight break points and saving only five. The Canadian’s first-server scoring rate was only 62%, while Muchova’s first-serve scoring rate was 77%.
She took her only chance to rest.
This is the first meeting between the players. Mboko is 13-4 in singles this season.
Mboko, a 19-year-old from Toronto, was ranked outside the top 300 at the beginning of last season. She had a huge win at the tour level last August at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Montreal.
She won her second WTA title at the Hong Kong Open in November.
It was her second final of the season – she lost to Russia’s Mira Andreeva at the Adelaide International final in January.
–With files from The Canadian Press
