“I can’t let Victoria Mboko not like me anymore” – Naomi Osaka reveals how she feels about facing her ‘little twin’ in Canadian Open final

August 7, 2025

3

Naomi Osaka expressed how she was seeing her dream come true as her ‘little twin,’ Victoria Mboko, who idolizes her, will be head-on with her in the Montreal Open finals. Osaka outpaced 18th-seeded Clara Tauson to reach the finals of the WTA 1000 tournament, her first in three years.

Osaka is now heading to claim the WTA 1000 tournament title in Montreal, scheduled to face budding star Victoria Mboko from Canada. In a press conference, Osaka shared her feelings about facing someone who grew up idolizing her.

Moreover, she wouldn’t want to play in a way that the Canadian, whom she also called her ‘little twin’, starts disliking her.

“I don’t think that’s ever happened. I’m shook (laughing). No, I mean, it’s really cute. I guess I have to have a really good attitude tomorrow. I can’t let her not like me anymore. I don’t know, it’s funny because I was, like, I see her on the TV, and I was low-key, like, That’s my little twin, because we both have our blue dresses and our buns and everything. I mean, I’m really honored. I always said that I would love to play someone that looked up to me in a way, so it’s happening way sooner than I thought it would.”

Mboko has reached her first-ever WTA-tour level singles final, and her title win at home will make her the third Canadian to achieve so after Faye Urban and Bianca Andreescu.

Osaka, the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles, hasn't had much success after her return from a pregnancy hiatus. She had two quarterfinal appearances in 2024 and ended her season early due to a back injury. This year, Osaka reached the Auckland final for the first time in three years and won the WTA 125 Open de Saint-Malo title, her first since 2021.

Naomi Osaka dropped a major hint about her US Open outfit amid the Canadian Open

Naomi Osaka at the WTA 1000 National Bank Open presented by Rogers - Day 11 - (Source: Getty)

Naomi Osaka broke into the top 30, moving up 20 rankings after a quarterfinal win over tenth-seeded Elina Svitolina. The win also means that she will be seeded at the US Open, allowing her to gain momentum and play top players in the later stages than face early exits.

Expressing excitement about that, Osaka teased fans to also tune in to the New York majors for her head-turning outfit. She said,

"I think I'm gonna be seeded in the US Open now because I won my match..so umm..that was a really big goal for me and i'm just really excited and if anyone tunes in my outfit is super fire."

Naomi Osaka won four major titles in her career, the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021, and the US Open in 2018 and 2020. She made history as the first tennis player to light the Olympic cauldron at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

Know More