Lucky number nine! McNally stuns Mboko in Madrid for first Top 10 win

American Caty McNally entered her second-round match in opposition to World No. 10 Victoria Mboko on the Mutua Madrid Open on Friday carrying two streaks she hoped to interrupt. She was 0-8 in opposition to Top 10 opposition — and 0-12 in opposition to the Top 20 — and hadn’t gained back-to-back main-draw matches on clay in 5 years.

But after 1 hour and 19 minutes on court docket, each of these have been snapped because the two-time Grand Slam doubles finalist notched one of many greatest victories of her profession with a 6-4, 6-1 upset that moved her by to the third spherical on the Caja Magica for the first time.

McNally spent eight months on the sidelines in 2024 following wrist surgical procedure, and spent a lot of final yr rebuilding her place in the PIF WTA Rankings to her present perch of No. 76. In that point there have been flashes of the shape that took her to a earlier 2023 singles excessive mark of No. 54 — like when she was the one participant to win a set in opposition to Iga Swiatek in her title run at Wimbledon final summer time, and her doubles prowess shortly restored itself to the tune of a pair of WTA 500 finals in the final eight months.

Flying solo, she put all of it collectively to attain far and away her finest win by rating over Mboko, who beat her in straight units on the Australian Open in January. At that point, the Canadian was not but a Top 10 participant — however in McNally’s eight earlier losses to such opponents, she gained a set in 5.

It was one thing that was on her thoughts as she confronted Mboko, she confessed afterwards — as was her lengthy street again to the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz.

This time final yr, she was ranked No. 287 in her comeback, and was taking part in on the ITF World Tennis Tour.

“I feel like I’ve been knocking on the door for a little while with some of these really great players — winning a set off them but not really being able to string together two sets,” McNally mentioned post-match. “Today, I just stayed so tough and I’m just so proud of that. I played some really solid tennis and it’s such a nice feeling.”

“I love playing matches like this and seeing where my level is at — I’m proving to myself that I’m there,” McNally added. “She’s an amazing player and we’ve had some great matches. At one point, I had to take a step back and realize the journey I’ve on to get here. To realize I’m in Madrid, Spain playing on basically a full court; that’s such a privilege. Just having that perspective allowed me to enjoy it a little bit more.”

Mboko, making her match debut, was additionally taking part in her first match of the clay-court season. She struggled to adapt to each the circumstances and McNally’s selection to see a 13-match successful streak in opposition to gamers ranked exterior the Top 50 finish.

She racked up 47 unforced errors in defeat, double faulted six instances, and solely created one break level on return as McNally landed 80% of her first serves. Mboko confronted 12 break factors in all, and McNally gained 4.

Bidding for a first profession Round of 16 at a WTA 1000 occasion, McNally will subsequent face one other participant who is aware of her manner round a doubles court docket in Katerina (*10*). The Czech rolled over fortunate loser Anna Blinkova 6-2, 6-2 earlier on Wednesday following a late withdrawal by No. 17 seed Clara Tauson.