World No. 24 Victoria Mboko's slump continues as the 19-year-old picked up her fourth consecutive defeat after exiting the WTA 500 tournament in Ningbo in the first round.
Mboko, who completed a stunning run in Montreal to become a WTA 1000 champion just before her 19th birthday, took on Dayana Yastremska in her Ningbo opener. And the 30th-ranked Ukrainian sealed a 6-3 7-6 (3) win.
In the first set, Mboko had an early break and a 3-2 lead before losing the next four games and the set. In the second set, the Canadian also had a lead after she went 5-3 up. But then, the reigning Montreal champion failed to serve out for the second set - and she paid the ultimate price - after Yastremska dominated the tie-break to complete her straight-set win.
By losing to Yastremska, the Canadian remains without a win since Montreal.
What happened to Mboko after Montreal?
During a Montreal semifinal win over Elena Rybakina, the home star sustained a wrist injury. And while she went on to beat Rybakina in that match and also defeat Naomi Osaka in the final, she felt her wrist and skipped Cincinnati that was taking place the following week.
"Yeah, I'm not planning on playing Cincinnati at the moment. I just want to take care of my wrist a little bit right now, and I think it's just very close and sudden for me to go there and play again I think in, like, two days. I think I'm just going to sit out on that one and prepare for the upcoming tournaments," she said at the time.
Since returning to action, Mboko picked up a US Open first-round to Barbora Krejcikova, lost to Anastasia Potapova in Beijing, fell short against Ekaterina Alexandrova in Wuhan, and today lost to Yastremska.
Mboko's situation isn't ideal but she still has time to turn the page before the 2025 season ends.
