Canada’s hopes of a French Open singles title are over.
Teenager Victoria Mboko fell 6-3, 6-4 to reigning Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng of China in the third round on Friday at Roland-Garros, making her the last of five Canadians to be eliminated.
Mboko, 18, had previously won 10 consecutive sets at the second Grand Slam of the season, including three qualifying matches.
But the eighth-seeded Zheng proved too much to overcome for the Canadian in her major debut.
“It was such a good atmosphere and I want to say congratulations to my opponent because I felt she played really well,” Zheng said in her on-court interview, per The Athletic. “We pushed each other to play our best tennis. It was not an easy match.”
Mboko, of Toronto, failed to record an ace while double-faulting three times. Meanwhile, Zheng took advantage of all four break-point opportunities she had, while Mboko converted on just two of eight.
Zheng, who won Olympic gold at Roland-Garros, will next face 19th seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia.
Still, Mboko outlasted all four of her fellow Canadians. Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez fell in the first round, while Denis Shapovalov and Gabriel Diallo were eliminated in the second round.
Mboko currently is projected to rise to No. 89 in the world rankings, up 31 spots from before the French Open. That likely will be enough to get her into the main draw at Wimbledon next month.
Also, Diallo and men’s doubles partner Jacob Fearnley fell 6-2, 6-3 to England’s Harry Patten and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara in the second round.
Fernandez and teammate Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan will play their second-round match in women’s doubles later Friday.