MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAú

March 23, 2026

Victoria Mboko

Press Conference

V. MBOKO/M. Andreeva

7-6, 4-6, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on the win. Your thoughts on the match.

VICTORIA MBOKO: Yeah, it wasn't an easy match. Of course, playing Mirra, having played her twice already this year, I kind of knew what to expect going into the match.

I mean, I'm glad to have got the win today and to be able to pull through.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions.

Q. Amazing run for you lately. Can you take us through the process to get here. Also what it's like playing a good friend, having it end the way it did?

VICTORIA MBOKO: Yeah, well, my first-ever match playing was here in Miami a year ago. I mean, to kind of see how many matches I've played over the course... Yeah, I mean, the progress I've made, it's been pretty nice. It's a nice feeling, feeling of improving, too.

Yeah, I'm kind of glad to have gotten through all of that. I feel like it made me the player who I am today. So yeah, I think in general it's nice to experience all of that.

Yeah, just really happy with the win today.

Q. Going into the third set, obviously it was a close second set, what are you thinking about in the changeover? What led to such a very dominant final set?

VICTORIA MBOKO: In the second set?

Q. Second into the third.

VICTORIA MBOKO: Second into the third.

Well, yeah, it wasn't a nice feeling getting broken, of course. She was playing very aggressive towards the end of the second set. She was playing really great tennis. Not that I wanted to give it to her, but she played good. I had to accept it.

I just kind of wanted to regroup in the third set. I feel like it can always go either way. I just wanted to make sure I had a really good start to the third set 'cause we had a history of holding serves in the match a pretty long time. I just wanted to try to break her as early as possible.

Q. Mirra said afterwards that she wanted to kind of apologize for the medical timeout, just make sure it was cool. Curious how nice it is to have that camaraderie with her, your doubles partner. Also curious about the doubles comeback yesterday.

VICTORIA MBOKO: It's crazy. I mean, yeah, Mirra, I don't think she was probably feeling well in the match. I mean, it's not great to see that, of course. Of course, we spent a lot of time out there and it was really hot. I want to send my best regards to her.

In the doubles, it was really fun. We were down 5-0. I don't know if we thought we were going to win the first set, but we just wanted to play our games and just have fun. I think with Mirra, we have a lot of fun on court. That's what's most important.

Yeah, I think we don't really realize it when we're playing really well. We're just kind of cooperating good, we're talking a lot. It's just nice to have her on the court with me.

Q. When did you first get to know each other? When did your friendship kind of start?

VICTORIA MBOKO: Well, it was a while ago in the juniors. I mean, I didn't really know her very well, but I just remember I played her in a junior match in the States. She beat me. The day after it was my birthday. Then she wished me a happy birthday after she beat me. I was like, What (smiling)?

That's when I realized she's a nice girl. It was a really cute message she sent me. That was my first couple memories with her. That was a funny one.

Q. I wanted to ask you about your next opponent, Muchova. What can you take from the Doha final and combat the versatility of her game?

VICTORIA MBOKO: Well, of course, playing her in Doha wasn't easy. She's a really great player. She has a lot of variety in her game. Yeah, I just know it's going to be very tough.

I mean, just going into tomorrow, it's going to be a new day, a new tournament. I played her before, so I kind of know what to expect.

Hopefully I can kind of just work with my game and just see what patterns I could do or whatever I can do to try to gain more free points in the match.