This year's Toronto Masters final featured a memorable scene as the Canadian crowd started celebrating Victoria Mboko's Montreal triumph in the middle of the Ben Shelton and Karen Khachanov match, which left the two ATP stars looking stunned and wondering what had happened.
On Thursday, the final of the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal started earlier and local teenage sensation Mboko delivered another impressive display to beat four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka 2-6 6-4 6-1. It was the first time since Bianca Andreescu in 2019 that a home player won the Canadian Open.
Just as Mboko sealed her win, Shelton and Khachanov had been midway through the first set of their final. As the Russian was preparing to serve, the Toronto crowd started very loudly cheering and celebrating. The American stood in disbelief, before walking to the chair umpire and being told that they were probably celebrating the 18-year-old Canadian's victory.
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Shelton had a message for Mboko
After a funny scene, the American went on to capture his maiden Masters crown after beating Khachanov 6-7 (5) 6-4 7-6 (3). The 22-year-old then took to Instagram to congratulate the 18-year-old Canadian and funnily address the viral situation.
Congrats on the title Vicky Mboko. I had no idea what was going on at the time (laughing emoji) but Toronto went nuts for you," Shelton wrote on his Instagram Story.
After the Canadian Open, two young stars joined the Masters/WTA 1000 champions list.
