19-year-old Victoria Mboko is the real deal, and veteran Anna Blinkova learned that at the Miami Open. Mboko ran through Blinkova as if the first-round match was an exhibition one, and the Russian had no answer at the beginning, and the match only got tougher after that.
In fact, Mboko had the same issue that every other player is struggling with this week: The rain. The issue caused play to stop twice, but that only delayed the inevitable for Blinkova. While she managed to get two games off the Canadian in the first set, the beginning of the second set was ugly. Besides not winning a game and falling behind 0-4, the Russian was hardly able to win a point.
That was the case even on her own service games. Mboko simply overpowered Blinkova. When the Canadian was serving, she often used body serves as the Russian was powerless to move from left to right with speed to avoid forcing unforced errors or whiffing on the ball completely.
Victoria Mboko destroys Anna Blinkova in the first round of the 2026 Miami Open
When Blinkova served, she couldn't muster enough speed to keep Mboko honest. The Canadian simply unloaded on the ball, ending points quickly. The rain delays were far longer than the match. The Russian will be sent home after a brutal loss, but at least she got to spend a couple more hours in Miami because of the rain. It was her only real friend.
Victoria Mboko looked every bit the rising teenager she is. She is already inside the top 10, on brute force alone, but make no mistake that she is developing touch, too. She is already, and will continue to be, a real threat to win any hard-court event she enters.
She took the match 6-2, 6-0, breaking Anna Blinkova seven times. The Russian won less than 40 percent of her service points.
In the second round, Mboko will play the winner of the Anna Kalinskaya and Anastasia Zakharova match. The Canadian will be a heavy favorite to move into the third round of the Miami Open, where she could take on fellow teenager Mirra Andreeva.