Acclaimed tennis coach Rick Macci has backed Victoria Mboko to crack the top five of the WTA Rankings in 2026 and ultimately challenge for Grand Slam titles.
World No 10 Mboko has become one of the most talked-about players in tennis in recent months, with the Canadian surging up the WTA Rankings since the start of 2025.
The Canadian was ranked outside the top 300 less than 15 months ago, though proceeded to crack the top 100 of the WTA Rankings in 2025 — all before her stunning run to the Canadian Open title.
Victory at the WTA 1000 event propelled the 19-year-old inside the top 30 for the first time, and victory at the Hong Kong Tennis Open last October saw her crack the top 20.
Mboko has since gone on to reach her career-high of tenth in 2026, having already reached finals at the WTA 500 Adelaide International and WTA 1000 Qatar Open this season.
The teen star is still largely inexperienced when competing at the very top of the sport, though her rapid progress has caught everyone’s attention.
And, she has now been predicted for further breakthroughs by Macci, who worked with the likes of Serena and Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Jennifer Capriati when they were juniors.
Taking to Twitter/X, the acclaimed coach predicted that Mboko would not only surge in the WTA Rankings, but also contend for major success in the near future.
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He wrote: “Mboko because of her firepower and athletic ability will be a Grand Slam Champion sooner than later. She can play thru [sic] you and has no fear and will be top 5 by the end of the year.”
Mboko is potentially in line for further breakthroughs this week, with the 19-year-old midway through an already-impressive Indian Wells campaign.
The Canadian is the 10th seed in Tennis Paradise and has picked up three impressive wins so far, defeating Kimberly Birrell and 23rd seed Anna Kalinskaya, before a scintillating 6-4, 6-1 win over sixth seed and world No 6 Amanda Anisimova in the fourth round.
Mboko is provisionally up to a new career high of ninth in the WTA Live Rankings, though her final post-tournament ranking will depend on the rest of her campaign and results for other players in Indian Wells.
Victory over Anisimova set up a blockbuster quarter-final encounter against world No 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka, the Indian Wells title favourite.
It will be the second meeting between the two this year, with Sabalenka having beaten Mboko in the fourth round of the Australian Open back in January.
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