WASHINGTON, December 8, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)
Victoria Mboko, whose story in the words of Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney is one of “resilience, perseverance and excellence,” has been an inspiration for young athletes and women across the Canadian provinces this year.
On Monday, the 19-year-old Canadian from Toronto was named as the first player in the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) Class of 2025, which will celebrate the achievements of five players who have enjoyed outstanding results on the ITF World Tennis Tour during the 2025 season.
Victoria Mboko’s story is one of resilience, perseverance, and excellence. Today, Prime Minister Carney met with the Canadian tennis star to celebrate all of her achievements and commend her for inspiring young athletes and women across the country. pic.twitter.com/sJkTKFBePo
— Prime Minister of Canada (@CanadianPM) December 4, 2025
Mboko, who was born in North Carolina after her family settled in the United States upon leaving behind political turmoil in the Democratic Republic of Congo and later moved to Burlington, Ontario, near Toronto when she was a small child, began the 2025 season ranked No. 333 and is now currently ranked 18th. She won four ITF World Tennis Tour titles in the first two months of the year, winning 20 consecutive main draw matches in straight sets. Mboko added a fifth ITF World Tennis Tour title in March and made her Billie Jean King Cup debut for Canada at the Qualifiers in Tokyo in April, winning both of her matches contested in Japan.
Next, in May, Mboko qualified for the main draw at Roland-Garros to make her Grand Slam debut, reaching the third round of the main draw before losing to Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China. Then, two months later, competing as a wild card the WTA 1000 Roger’s Cup event in Montreal, Mboko won seven straight matches to earn her first WTA Tour title. She defeated four-time major champion Naomi Osaka of Japan in the final.
The winning moment ✨
Victoria Mboko captures her first WTA title in Montreal, defeating Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.#OBN25 pic.twitter.com/OveLB47YMZ
— wta (@WTA) August 8, 2025
Then-ranked at No. 85, Mboko became the second-lowest ranked player to win a WTA 1000 title in the history of the format, as well as becoming just the third Canadian player to win the tournament. En route to the title, she earned a pair of victories over players who finished the season ranked in the WTA Top 10: World No. 3 Coco Gauff of the United States and World No. 5 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
Finally, Mboko closed her season in strong fashion by winning her second WTA Tour title at the Hong Kong Open before winning all three matches she competed in as Canada won the Billie Jean King Cup Group A Playoff event in Mexico to secure their place in the 2026 Qualifiers. She finished the 2025 season with a 62-14 win-loss record. Her current ranking of World No. 18 is a career-high WTA ranking.
New faces came up big in 2025 for Team Canada
7⃣ players earned their first nominations to represent Team Canada at the BJKC and Davis Cup in 2025
Victoria Mboko made a big statement going 5-0 in BJKC competitions
Read more https://t.co/ZPcOt3W3eV pic.twitter.com/XLHf66dti2
— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) December 5, 2025
“I’m very happy to be recognized as part of the Class of 2025 for the ITF,” Mboko said in a statement. “It really means a lot to me and I’m really grateful to have been part of this award. It’s been such a great year.
“Starting the year off playing many tournaments, especially in Europe and the Caribbean, I gained a lot of momentum and confidence which has helped me throughout the year when playing more WTA tournaments. I think starting off there let me have a lot of match play and playing such difficult players to prepare me physically and mentally for the WTA Tour. I’m really grateful for everything that I went through this year, and it has helped me become a better player overall.”
“Victoria Mboko’s achievements this year are truly remarkable – an incredible winning streak on the ITF World Tennis Tour, a WTA 1000 title on home soil in Montreal and representing Canada with distinction in the Billie Jean King Cup,” ITF President David Haggerty said of Mboko in a statement.
Victoria Mboko and I enjoyed talkingyesterday at @TennisCanada‘s Parliamentary reception.
At just 19 years old, she is the third Canadian woman ever to win the Canadian Open.
As a former professional player and lifelong coach, I hope stories like hers will inspire more kids… pic.twitter.com/Oky6ApmhW5
— Helena Konanz (@HelenaKonanz) December 4, 2025
The ITF’s ‘Class of …’ series recognizes and celebrates players who have had a successful year on the ITF World Tennis Tour, identifying the season’s most promising and breakthrough talents, as well as those who are predicted to go on and achieve bigger and better things next year. The other four players in the Class of 2025 will be announced over the course of this week.
This year’s group was decided by a panel of tennis experts: Ashley Kenner (WTA), Julia Boyadjieva (ATP), Mark Woodforde (ITF), Mary Pierce (ITF) and Nao Kawatei (ITF). The panel voted for five players to be included in the Class of 2025 from a long list of 19 players.
Among recent honorees who have been previously named in the ‘Class of …’ series include: Jakub Mensik of Czechia (2022), Mirra Andreeva of Russia (2023), Learner Tien of the United States (2024) and Iva Jovic of the United States (2024).
