Victoria Mboko Beats Leylah Fernandez in Strasbourg Quarterfinals

Victoria Mboko of Burlington, Ontario, powered through her return game to secure a 6-4, 6-4 quarterfinal victory Thursday over fellow Canadian Leylah Fernandez at the Strasbourg International tennis tournament in France.

The 19-year-old Mboko, the top seed, defeated seventh-seeded Fernandez, 24, from Laval, Quebec, in straight sets. Fernandez struggled on serve, winning just 52.8 per cent of total service points and facing 11 break points, of which she saved seven. Mboko, meanwhile, won 82 per cent of her first-serve points and was broken twice from three chances.

Mboko improved her head-to-head record against Fernandez to 2-0. Their previous meeting was the Hong Kong Open semifinals last year, where Mboko also prevailed on her way to claiming her second WTA title.

Next, Mboko will face Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian in Friday’s semifinals of the WTA 500 clay-court tournament.

Both Canadians are seeded for the upcoming French Open. Mboko is the ninth seed and will open against Czech player Nikola Bartunkova on Sunday. Fernandez, seeded 24th, will take on American Alycia Parks on Monday.