When an 18-year-old WTA wildcard topples a four-time Grand Slam champion, it’s the kind of headline that lights up the tennis world. But when Billie Jean King, one of the sport’s most iconic figures, joins the celebration with a single, powerful word, the moment takes on a whole new glow.
“Magic! Congratulations Vicky Mboko on your maiden WTA title in Montreal!” King tweeted just hours after Victoria “Vicky” Mboko’s astonishing comeback victory over Naomi Osaka in the final of the 2025 Canadian Open.
Magic! Congratulations Vicky Mboko on your maiden WTA title in Montreal! https://t.co/odtM5PKcxa
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) August 8, 2025
Coming from anyone else, it would have been a lovely gesture. Coming from Billie Jean King, it was a passing of the torch.
Billie Jean King isn’t just a Hall of Famer; she’s tennis royalty. With 39 Grand Slam titles and a lifelong commitment to equality in sports, her words carry the weight of decades of history, advocacy, and trailblazing courage. She doesn’t dish out praise lightly, and her reaction to Mboko’s win was as pure as it was succinct.
That one word—”Magic”—captured not just the quality of Mboko’s tennis, but the spirit of her journey. King has seen countless champions rise, but she clearly recognized something special in the teenager from Canada.
Mboko’s week in Montreal was the stuff of sports fairytales. Ranked world No. 85 and entering as a wildcard, she wasn’t on anyone’s shortlist to lift the trophy. But match after match, she dismantled expectations.
She took out former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the second round. She stunned world No. 2 Coco Gauff with fearless shot-making in the fourth. She clawed her way past Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the semis, saving a match point along the way.
And then came Naomi Osaka, the former world No. 1 who looked on track to win after taking the first set 6–2. But Mboko flipped the script, unleashing blistering forehands and ice-cold composure to take the next two sets 6–4, 6–1, and with it, her first-ever WTA title.
For a young player, winning a big title is life-changing. But getting public praise from Billie Jean King? That’s a career milestone in itself. It’s an acknowledgment that your moment wasn’t just impressive—it was historic.
King has always been attuned to the bigger picture in sport. Her tweet wasn’t just about a teenager winning a tournament; it was about recognizing the arrival of a new player who could inspire the next generation. Just as she fought for opportunities for women athletes decades ago, she now uses her voice to spotlight the stars who are carrying the game forward.
The day after her win, Mboko’s phone was likely flooded with congratulatory messages. But there’s a good chance one stood out more than the rest. To have your triumph defined as “magic” by Billie Jean King is to be forever etched into the sport’s story.
As Mboko prepares for her debut at the US Open later this month, she does so not just as a WTA champion, but as a player who has caught the eye of one of tennis’s greatest minds. And if Billie Jean King says she’s magic, the rest of the tennis world will be watching very closely to see what she conjures next.
