Qatar Open champion Karolina Muchova claimed that Victoria Mboko had “many titles” ahead of her after beating the Canadian in the final of the WTA 1000 event in Doha.

Muchova claimed her first-ever WTA 1000 title at the Qatar Open on Saturday, with the 14th seed beating tenth seed Mboko 6-4, 7-5 to lift the biggest title of her career to date.

Victory for the 29-year-old saw her end her wait for a second WTA Tour title, having not lifted a WTA-level title since the Korea Open in September 2019.

And both women are now set for significant moves in the WTA Rankings, with Muchova set to be up to world No 11 on Monday, while Mboko is set to be the world No 10 — cracking the top 10 for the first time.

Though she was beaten in Saturday’s final, Mboko’s run sealed her latest breakthrough in the sport and continued her meteoric rise.

The teen star was ranked outside the top 200 twelve months ago, though she has soared up the WTA Rankings, starting with her historic run to the WTA 1000 Canadian Open title last August.

Mboko won her second WTA Tour title at the Hong Kong Open towards the end of 2025, and then reached the Adelaide International final last January.

The 19-year-old was unable to add a second WTA 1000 title to her collection on Saturday, though she still picked up some big wins during her Doha campaign.

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Mboko defeated two top-10 players, world No 7 Mirra Andreeva and world No 3 Elena Rybakina, during her run, also beating former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko in the semi-final.

Muchova is a former world No 8 at the peak of her powers, reaching the French Open final in 2023, alongside runner-up finishes at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open and China Open during her career.

And the Czech, who was ranked 19th in the world before her Doha campaign, shared a warm message with Mboko after her victory in Saturday’s championship match.

She said: “It’s been a while since I won a tournament, so it’s just nice to get that feeling again, to be reminded of that victory feeling here in Doha, it’s incredible. Thank you very much.

“I’m very excited, if I can take my words, I’d like to, as well, congratulate Victoria — you’re still a teenager if I’m not mistaken, and you play with so much maturity, and you play incredible. It’s been an incredible week for you.

“Congratulations, I’m sure you have many titles ahead of you. Congratulations to you and your team, congrats guys, and good luck for the rest of the season.”

Neither Muchova nor Mboko will have too much time to rest and recover after their Doha exploits, with both women set to be in action at the Dubai Tennis Championships — the second WTA 1000 event of 2026.

Muchova is the 15th seed in Dubai and will face qualifier Moyuka Uchijima in the opening round, and could then face top seed Rybakina in round three.

Mboko is the 11th seed at the tournament and begins her campaign against Jaqueline Cristian, and could face a rematch versus Andreeva in round three.

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