Victoria Mboko is off to a winning start in the American swing of the tennis schedule.
The Canadian downed Australia’s Kimberly Birrell 6-4, 7-6 (5) on Friday in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open on Friday in Indian Wells, Calif.
Mboko, seeded 10th, got a first-round bye before knocking off the world No. 69.
Mboko had seven aces to five double faults and broke on five of her seven chances.
The 10th-seeded Mboko also won 69 per cent of first-serve points.
Birrell had two aces to four double faults and converted four of her seven break-point opportunities.
She won just 54 per cent of first-serve points.
The 19-year-old Mboko has already reached finals in Adelaide and Qatar this year, along with a run to the round of 16 at the Australian Open.
Mboko will next face No. 23 seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia.
On the men’s side, Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime rallied to beat French veteran Gael Monfils 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 in second-round action on Friday.
The ninth-seeded Canadian will play the winner of a match between 17th-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev and Gabriel Diallo of Montreal.
Against Monfils, Auger-Aliassime finished with 14 aces, four double faults, 34 winners and 29 unforced errors. Monfils had 12 aces, five double faults, 31 winners and 21 unforced errors.
The Canadian saved two break points and won two of five. Monfils saved three of five break points and won none of the two opportunities he had.
Later Friday, unseeded Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont. beat No. 29 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (5) in a second-round match.
Shapovalov next faces No. 2 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy.
Diallo and Leylah Fernandez will play their second-round matches on Saturday.
— with files from the Canadian Press