March 23 (Reuters) - Victoria Mboko's rapid rise has the Canadian teenager poised for Grand Slam success, former U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick said after she beat fellow teenager Mirra Andreeva 7-6(4) 4-6 6-0 on Monday to reach the Miami Open quarter-finals.
Mboko picked up her first WTA Tour-level win in Miami last year and has enjoyed a string of deep runs at tournaments in 2026 highlighted by a fourth-round appearance at the Australian Open in January.
"Mboko is going to win a slam in the next two years," Roddick said on his Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
"She's making the quarters or better in every single event. She gets through tough three-set matches all the time," he added.
Mboko's losses at the Australian Open and in the Indian Wells quarter-finals both came against world number one Aryna Sabalenka, but Roddick said those defeats did little to dent his assessment of her potential.
"She plays well every single week. Losing to Sabalenka, that doesn't bother me at all. She's physically strong and can withstand the stress test of big tennis," he said.
"I'm just more and more impressed with her."
Seeded 10th in Miami, Mboko turned in another assured display against doubles partner and emerging rival Andreeva on the sun-drenched hard courts, overcoming a second-set lapse to pull away in dominant fashion.
The Canadian Open champion broke the hard-serving Russian - who received treatment on her back during the match - three times in the decider and sealed victory with a blistering inside-out forehand on match point for her fifth top-10 win of the season.
Mboko will face Karolina Muchova for a place in the semi-finals after the in-form Czech crushed Alexandra Eala 6-0 6-2 earlier on Monday.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Long Beach, CaliforniaEditing by Christian Radnedge)
