Victoria Mboko opens her clay season this week at the Madrid Open after having her wisdom teeth pulled, an ill-timed extraction that took her off the court ahead of the clay-court swing.
The 19-year-old Canadian tennis star arrives in Spain ranked No. 10 in the world, up from No. 156 this time last year.
Mboko will pair with Iva Jovic against Vera Zvonareva and Laura Siegemund in a round-of-32 doubles match on Wednesday, and will face the winner of Caty McNally and a qualifier — who meet Tuesday — in her opening singles match on Thursday.
Mboko, from Burlington, Ont., had been scheduled to compete for Canada in the Billie Jean King Cup tie in Kazakhstan as a tune-up for Madrid, but underwent the dental procedure following last month’s Miami Open.
“I got all four of mine taken out, and I knew the recovery was going to be pretty tough for me, so I decided not to play a lot of the tournaments,” Mboko said during media day in Madrid.
“It was quite an experience,” she added. “I wouldn’t say it was very positive, but a lot of tears and a lot of soup, so it’s OK.”
She said she needed several days to recover at home before travelling to Europe, and didn’t have much time to adjust to clay conditions.
Mboko is 19-6 this season, with quarterfinal runs at Indian Wells and Miami earlier this spring, and has a first-round bye in singles despite limited clay experience. She played two tour-level clay events last season, reaching the second round in Rome and the third round at the French Open.
“I’d say coming into this tournament, I don’t play a lot on clay, so maybe in my first couple of matches, especially in my first one, I want to get a feel for the court,” Mboko said. “I know there’s some altitude here, and the ball — it’s playing pretty fast for me at least. I guess it’s important to just adapt to the conditions and try to get my last few days of training and to prepare well for my first round.
“So we’ll see how I react to it. Maybe I’ll like it. Maybe it’s not going to be in my favour, so we don’t know.”
Other Canadians in singles at the Madrid Open include Leylah Annie Fernandez, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov and Gabriel Diallo.