Andy Roddick backs Victoria Mboko for major success

Victoria Mboko has caught the attention of Andy Roddick, who recently made a bold prediction about her future in tennis.

The Canadian teenager has had a rapid rise up the WTA rankings, moving from outside the top 300 to breaking into the top 10 within a year.

In that time, she’s picked up titles at both the Canadian Open and Hong Kong Open while also making finals appearances in Doha and Adelaide.

Roddick believes that by 2028, Mboko will have won her first Grand Slam title.

Andy Roddick backs Victoria Mboko to win a Grand Slam by 2028

She also made it to the quarterfinals at Indian Wells last week, only losing out to Aryna Sabalenka, who went on to win the tournament.

During an episode of his podcast ‘Served with Andy Roddick,’ he said he expects Mboko to claim her first Grand Slam title within the next two years.

“Mboko is going to win a Slam in the next two years. I just needed to say that out loud,” said Roddick. “She plays well every week. We talk about Sabalenka and she is in position every single tournament.

“Mboko is not there yet, but if you take this breakout last year, some injuries, maybe limped to the finish line or was at least spottier. This year she is making the quarters or better every single event. She gets through tough three set matches all the time, when she starts flipping those and turns those three set wins in 4 and 4’s [straight sets], which she will…She has only been on Tour for eight months.

“Losing to Sabalenka does not bother me at all. She is just building. She is physically strong and she can withstand the stress test of big tennis. I am more and more impressed with her as she goes about it.”

Roddick isn’t just throwing out predictions lightly either – he’s usually pretty measured with this kind of thing and doesn’t hype up players unless there’s something real behind it.

Victoria Mboko’s Grand Slam career so far

Mboko’s rapid rise through the WTA rankings is even more impressive considering she’s only played each Grand Slam once.

Her best result came in her latest appearance, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open before falling to Sabalenka.

Both of Mboko’s WTA titles have come on hard courts, though she is still looking for her first win at the US Open after losing to two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova in the opening round last year.

She has also proven herself on other surfaces, coming through qualifying to reach the third round of the French Open last year.

The 19-year-old continues her season at the Miami Open, where she enters as the 10th seed and received a bye into the second round. She will open her campaign against Anna Blinkova, who recently added another loss to Sofia Kenin’s difficult run of form this season.

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