Zheng Qinwen has set up a third-round French Open showdown against the fast-rising Victoria Mboko, the young Canadian who made her Grand Slam debut at this year’s clay-court Slam.
The Canadian has come through qualification rounds and beaten higher-ranked opponents in the form of Eva Lys and Lulu Sun to make the third round. This year has been a breakthrough for her as it began with an incredible 22-match winning streak on the surface. Mboko then transitioned onto the WTA Tour and found immediate success, beating Camila Osorio on debut at the Miami Open before pushing Paula Badosa to three sets.
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Raw power is the biggest asset for Victoria Mboko, as Badosa noted during their second-round encounter. "She's hitting bigger than [Aryna] Sabalenka", the exasperated Spaniard told her box mid-match. Not much has changed since, as the youngster continues to go for her shots. She has not dropped a set in the five matches that she has played so far.
"I've been keeping in pretty calm in my head," Victoria Mboko said in an interview with Zoomer Radio."I don't feel like I've been changing so much in my game, like tactically or like technically, but to have so many matches under my belt, I feel like I'm on autopilot right now."
Her impressive match-winning tally for the season has now climbed up to 42 across the ITF and WTA Tours. That said, she needs to tread with caution heading into the contest against Zheng Qinwen, given that she has squared off against an opponent in the top-10 bracket only once in her career.
Breaking down Victoria Mboko's shot at French Open upset
Going back to Victoria Mboko's head-to-head against top-10 opponents could give some valuable insights into her game heading into the showdown against Zheng Qinwen.
The match came against an opponent who shares a few similarities with Zheng: Coco Gauff. The fact that their match was played on clay, not too far from Paris, at the Italian Open, would further add some valuable experience that the youngster can draw from.
Both Zheng and Gauff have a game built around a big serve and have had great success on clay in the past, with the former earning an Olympic gold at the venue and the latter competing in the French Open. In a positive sign, Victoria Mboko did not let Gauff's reputation come in the way of how she approached the match. The youngster was aggressive in her intent and was able to successfully push her opponent onto the back foot. Gauff had plenty of praise to offer after the match, saying in her presser:
"I felt like playing myself because I feel like I move pretty well, she moves very well... As far as the other parts of her game, she's obviously a big hitter, can play well, moves pretty well has a nice backhand, same on the forehand," Coco Gauff had said.
"I don't want to say she plays like me 'cause she obviously doesn't. We're like closer in age. I would say on the movement side athletically she's one of the best athletes on tour," she had added.
That said, Zheng is a new and dangerous opponent. She walked away with the biggest prize the last time that she was in action in Paris and has looked in good touch in her matches at this year's French Open. She was strong against former finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in her opener and improved on that performance against Emiliana Arango in the second round.
Mboko will definitely have her work cut out in the third-round showdown. With no clear weaknesses to target in Zheng's game, she will have to rely on her own strengths to win points. It is a big occasion for the youngster, but she has spoken about not putting too much pressure on herself in some of her post-match pressers.
"Pretend like you're playing somewhere else, that you're not at a Grand Slam. It's another clay-court tournament. That way, I don't put as much pressure on myself and the points. I let loose and I kind of go for my shots a little bit more," Victoria Mboko said [via the Athletic].
If she can continue to strike the ball as well as she has this tournament, especially on return, the next-gen star could well have Zheng on the ropes in the French capital.
