Mboko defeats fellow Canadian Fernandez in French Open tune-up tournament

Victoria Mboko, of Canada, returns a shot against Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, during a quarterfinal match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

STRASBOURG — Top seed Victoria Mboko cruised to a 6-4, 6-4 win over fellow Canadian Leylah Fernandez in quarterfinal action Thursday at the Strasbourg International tennis tournament.

The 19-year-old Mboko, from Burlington, Ont., rode a strong return game to the straight-sets win over the seventh-seeded opponent from Laval, Que.

Fernandez, 24, won just 52.8 per cent of total service points and faced 11 break points, saving seven of them.

Mboko was good on 82 per cent of first-serve points and was broken twice on three chances.

Mboko improved to 2-0 over Fernandez. She won their first meeting at last year’s Hong Kong Open semifinals en route to claiming her second WTA title.

The rising star will next face Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian in Friday’s semifinals at the WTA 500 clay-court tournament.

Both Mboko and Fernandez are seeded in the French Open women’s draw.

Mboko, the ninth seed at Roland Garros, will face Czechia’s Nikola Bartunkova on Sunday, and Fernandez, seeded 24th, takes on Alycia Parks of the United States on Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2026.