Elena Rybakina vs Victoria Mboko Prediction 08/06/2025 Today’s Tennis Picks

Number 9 seed Elena Rybakina will face Canadian wild card Victoria Mboko in the semifinal of the 2025 National Bank Open in Montreal. The match is scheduled for Wednesday, August 6. Here’s our Elena Rybakina vs Victoria Mboko prediction. This preview will also include an Elena Rybakina vs Victoria Mboko pick.

Elena Rybakina vs Victoria Mboko Preview

Elena Rybakina is through to yet another semifinal at the National Bank Open. In her last trip in 2023, Rybakina made the last four and lost to Liudmila Samsonova during a rain-interrupted week in Canada. This year, Rybakina has not had such problems with dealing with inclement weather or an unpredictable schedule. She’s the second-highest-ranked seed still left in the draw, and the Kazakh will surely fancy her chances of making it to the final and winning her first WTA 1000 of the season.

Rybakina opened her account in the tournament this past week with a clinical 6-4, 6-3 win against Hailey Baptiste. She then overcame Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 6-0, 7-6 in her second match to reach the last 16. There, Rybakina withstood an inspired Dayana Yastremska, who pushed her to her absolute limits. But once again, Rybakina escaped with a win, downing Yastremska in three sets 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 in two and a half hours. That set up a quarterfinal showdown against Marta Kostyuk. Rybakina breezed through the first set 6-1 in 36 minutes. Within three games of the second set, Kostyuk was forced to retire through injury.

Although the match ended anticlimactically, Rybakina will be delighted to make her second semifinal this swing. She was beaten by eventual champion Leylah Fernandez at this stage in Washington. And it will be a Canadian who stands in her way in the Montreal semifinals.

Victoria Mboko is enjoying her best-ever run in a WTA tournament. The 18-year-old sensation is through to her first Tour-level semifinal in a breakout fortnight on home soil. The Canadian wild card started the tournament with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Australia’s Kimberly Birrell and has not stopped winning. She beat former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-2, 6-3 in the second round.

Mboko lost her only set in the tournament so far in the third round, where she rallied from behind to knock out Prague champion Marie Bouzkova in three sets. That earned her a last-16 meeting with top seed Coco Gauff. Mboko upset the world number two 6-1, 6-4 for a career-best win to reach an unlikely quarterfinal. And she was the huge favorite against Spain’s Bouzas Maneiro. She lived up to the hype and only dropped six games in a dominant performance.

Elena Rybakina vs Victoria Mboko Head-To-Head

Rybakina and Mboko only met once at the end of last month. Rybakina proved too strong for the Canadian in Washington, winning 6-3, 7-5 against the 18-year-old.

Elena Rybakina vs Victoria Mboko Prediction

Elena Rybakina has quietly done her business in Montreal with great efficiency as the top seeds kept crashing out of the tournament. And now she’s got to be the favorite for the title if she keeps producing moments of supreme quality from the baseline. Mboko has clearly developed her game immensely this season, winning 50 matches at all levels, and is now assured of a new career high ranking in the top 50. But I still think she’ll fall short against Rybakina’s serving prowess. The Kazakh’s ground stroke fluidity also appears to be hitting those unreachable spots in this tournament. Mboko will most definitely need a major dip from her opponent and the crowd support to complete another mammoth upset.