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Canadian Victoria Mboko teamed up with fellow teen Iva Jovic to take on doubles veterans Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai in the second round of the Australian Open.
And they almost won. They probably should have won.
Teamed with another teen at Indian Wells on Friday – Mirra Andreeva – Mboko got her revenge.
Mboko and Andreeva, who were Chatty Cathys on changeovers but deadly serious when the ball was in play, defeated the No. 4 seeds 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 to advance, coming close to blowing a 9-5 edge in the match tiebreak.
The teen dreams could meet another teen, Iva Jovic and a partner who’s barely out of her teens, 20-year-old Alexandra Eala, if they can also win their first-round match.
That pair is playing the pick-up duo of Hailey Baptiste and Jelena Ostapenko, so it’s hardly a done deal.
It should be noted that they didn’t necessarily win because they’re great doubles players; at this stage, it’s more because they’re just good players, period. Alhough they’re not bad doubles players.
For Mertens and Zhang, it was an effort a bit devoid of energy for some reason.
The top pair went on, after that narrow escape to the kids, to win the Australian Open. They lost their opener in Dubai before coming to the desert.
Zhang went from the qualifying to the semifinals in Mérida, Mexico in singles last week and then played singles in the desert (losing to Dayana Yastremska in the fist round). So, at 37, she might be a little short on energy.
(Notably, Zhang also has changed clothing sponsors since Australia. There, she wore long-time sponsor Asics; now, she’s dressed in Chinese brand Erke).
Mboko had already been victorious earlier in the day. After a first-round bye, she ran up against a pretty determined Kimberly Birrell.
It was a tight 6-4, 7-6 (5) and Birrell certainly had her chances to take at least a set. In the end, she just didn’t serve quite well enough, although the Aussie broke Mboko’s serve four times.
She will now meet No. 23 seed Anna Kalinskaya for the right to potentially meet either No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, or No. 16 seed Naomi Osaka in the round of 16.
As for Andreeva, she will play her opening match Saturday against Solana Sierra, which likely will be a more routine affair.
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