Mboko reaches semis to continue dream Montreal run

Teenager Victoria Mboko continued her fairytale run at the Canadian Open as she breezed past Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro to reach the semi-finals.

The 18-year-old Canadian, who knocked out two-time major winner Coco Gauff in the fourth round, impressed again on home soil with a 6-4 6-2 win in Montreal.

She will face 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, the ninth seed, in her first WTA 1000-level semi-final.

"I'm so excited to be in the semi-final here," Mboko, who is ranked 85th, said in her on-court interview.

"My first time playing in Montreal has been an unreal experience and I couldn't be more grateful."

Mboko started the year ranked 333rd in the world, and is set to move into the top 50 when the rankings are updated next week.

After opening the season with a 22-match winning streak in which she captured five titles on the lower-tier ITF Tour, she made her WTA Tour debut in March.

In her first Grand Slam appearance, she impressed by reaching the third round of the French Open before knocking out 25th seed Magdalena Frech in the opening round at Wimbledon a month later.

Mboko becomes the first Canadian to reach the semi-finals of the event since Bianca Andreescu won the tournament in 2019, while she is the youngest woman to make the last four since Belinda Bencic in 2015.

Rybakina, who defeated Mboko in the second round of last month's Washington Open, advanced to the semi-finals when Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk was forced to retire because of a wrist injury while trailing 6-1 2-1.

In the men's event, taking place in Toronto, Alexander Zverev battled back from a set down to beat defending champion Alexei Popyrin 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-3.

The 28-year-old German is into his 75th semi-final on the ATP Tour, becoming the only active men's player to have reached that milestone alongside Novak Djokovic.

He will face Russian Karen Khachanov, who moved past Alex Michelsen of the United States 6-4 7-6 (7-3).

The Cincinnati Open confirmed Djokovic had withdrawn for "non-medical" reasons from the tournament, which begins on Thursday.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion, who is not competing in Toronto because of a groin injury, has not played since losing to Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals of Wimbledon.

The 38-year-old is unlikely to play before the US Open, which starts on 24 August.