NEW YORK — Rising tennis star Victoria Mboko will face two-time Grand Slam winner Barbora Krejcikova in the opening round of the U.S. Open.
Meanwhile, fellow Canadians Leylah Fernandez and Felix Auger-Aliassime received favourable first-round matchups in Thursday's draw for the final Grand Slam of the season.
Mboko, who turns 19 on Tuesday, enters the hardcourt major tournament as the top-ranked Canadian, seeded 22nd in the women’s draw.
The Toronto teen is coming off her first WTA tournament victory at the 1000-level National Bank Open in Montreal. She posted wins over top seed Coco Gauff, world No. 10 Elena Rybakina and four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka.
She will likely get another stiff test from Krejcikova.
The 29-year-old from Czechia enters the U.S. Open with a world ranking of No. 61 and is not far removed from being one of the top players on the WTA Tour. She reached No. 2 in the world on Feb. 28, 2022 and her eight career titles includes wins at the 2021 French Open and Wimbledon in 2024.
Elsewhere, Fernandez and Auger-Aliassime will both face a qualifier in the first round.
Fernandez, the runner-up at Flushing Meadows in 2021, is seeded 31st in the women's draw and is enjoying a resurgent season that includes a win at the Citi Open last month in Washington, D.C.
Auger-Aliassime was a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2021, but was eliminated in the first round at the last two events. He has won two titles this year and is coming off a run to the quarterfinals earlier this month at the Masters-level Cincinnati Open.
Denis Shapovalov, the men's 27th seed from Richmond Hill, Ont., opens against Hungary's Marton Fucsovics, while 31st seed Gabriel Diallo of Montreal takes on Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Shapovalov, who is also having a bounce-back season with two titles in 2025, is looking to improve on his first-round exit at last year's U.S. Open. He made the quarterfinals in 2020 as part of a six-year run of advancing to at least the third round.
Shapovalov and Fucsovics have split four previous meetings, with the Canadian winning most recently at the Belgrade Open last year.
Diallo advanced to the third round in his U.S. Open main-draw debut last year.
The six-foot-eight 23-year-old, who posted his first career victory this year at the Libema Open in the Netherlands, is facing Dzumhur for the first time.
Three more Canadians were bidding for a women's main-draw berth, with Vancouver's Rebecca Marino, Toronto's Cadence Brace and Carol Zhao of Richmond Hill all playing second-round qualifying matches later Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2025.
The Canadian Press
