Victoria Mboko has already shown a knack for rising to the occasion in big matches, and she did it again Tuesday night in Indian Wells. In a highly anticipated fourth-round matchup between Top 10 players, Mboko delivered a commanding performance to defeat Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 6-1 in 1 hour and 13 minutes and reach her first Indian Wells quarterfinal.
Indian Wells: Scores | Draws | Order of play
It marks the 19-year-old’s third WTA 1000 quarterfinal in just seven appearances and comes with her fifth career Top 10 win — and her fourth of 2026. She’ll get a chance at another in the quarterfinals, where she’ll face World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
“I’m experiencing a lot of things for the first time, so to be out here playing Top 10 players, it’s really a privilege,” Mboko said in her on-court interview. “I’m so happy to be competing at the highest level, and I just (hope) to keep going.”
Her meeting with Sabalenka will be a rematch of this year’s Australian Open fourth round, where Sabalenka won in straight sets to take a 1-0 lead in the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz head-to-head.
But first, Mboko had to get by Anisimova, which is no minor feat. And yet she made it look relatively easy. She played clean, measured tennis while also capitalizing on an uncharacteristically loose performance from the American, especially on return.
By match’s end, Mboko had won more than half the points played on Anisimova’s serve (35 to 34). Pair that with just one break point faced and none relented, and she was able to cruise to the finish line.
Here are a few more telling numbers from the Canadian’s clinical performance:
1: Her first win over Anisimova. This was their first career meeting at the WTA level.
4: Canadians to reach the women’s singles quarterfinals at Indian Wells. Mboko joins Patricia Hy-Boulais, Helen Kelesi and Bianca Andreescu. She’s the second youngest to achieve the feat, behind Andreescu. She’s also the first Canadian to reach the quarterfinals since Andreescu in 2019, when she went on to win the title.
7: Unforced errors for Mboko. Yes, seven. The teenager finished in single digits thanks to surgeon-like precision on her ball striking. Her 14 winners won’t jump off the page, but she stayed within herself and executed exactly what the match required.
16: Match wins in 2026. That total puts Mboko second on tour this season, trailing only Elina Svitolina (17).
100: Percentage of break points won. Mboko went 4-for-4 on break chances, including one late in the first set to take a 4-3 lead and another to close out the match at love. She has now converted 40 break points in WTA 1000 events this season, the most on tour.
