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

By The Canadian Press

Canada’s Mboko needs less than an hour to win opening match at Miami Open

Mar 20, 2026 | 12:45 PM

MIAMI — Canada’s Victoria Mboko breezed through her opening match at the Miami Open on Friday.

Mboko, the No. 10 seed from Burlington, Ont., needed only 59 minutes to complete a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Russia’s Anna Blinkova.

The 19-year-old, who won the National Bank Open in Montreal last year, hit four aces and 32 winners.

“Before the match, I was kind of nervous a little bit,” Mboko said. “I mean, the first match of the tournament is never easy. You want to find your rhythm. You want to play well and set the tone for the rest of the tournament.”

Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., the No. 26 seed, had her evening match against Russia’s Oksana Selekhmeteva rescheduled due to hours of rain delays in Miami.

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In men’s singles play, Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo defeated China’s Yibing Wu 6-2, 7-6 (3), winning the match in 90 minutes.

Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No. 7 seed, received a first-round bye.

Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., dropped their opening matches earlier in the week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2026.

The Canadian Press