Victoria Mboko opens up on exciting doubles team-up with Coco Gauff at Qatar Open

Victoria Mboko opens up on exciting doubles team-up with Coco Gauff at Qatar Open

Two of the WTA Tour's rising stars, Coco Gauff and Victoria Mboko, are joining forces in the women's doubles draw at this week's Qatar Open.

Two-time Grand Slam singles champion Gauff is no stranger to doubles, with the American lifting the women's doubles title at the 2024 French Open alongside Katerina Siniakova.

And Mboko is also becoming more and more used to the format, with the rising star playing with fellow teen sensation Iva Jovic at the Australian Open last month.

Now, the two will pair up at the first WTA 1000 event of the year, competing on the same side of the court after previously doing battle on opposite sides of the net.

Gauff and Mboko first met at the 2025 Italian Open last May, with the American battling back to seal a three-set win in Rome.

However, Mboko then stunned Gauff in the fourth round of the Canadian Open last year, with the American one of four Grand Slam winners the 19-year-old beat during her stunning run to the title.

Speaking on Tennis Channel, Mboko revealed how she and Gauff joined forces for action in Doha this week.

She said: "We were actually both entered with two other players, but unfortunately, neither of us were able to make it into the draw with our original partners.

"So, we were like: â˜Wanna play?' and so, it just came about. But it's pretty cool!"

Gauff and Mboko are unseeded in the women's doubles draw, and have been handed a tough opening test in Doha.

The pair are set to take on Cristina Bucsa and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the opening round, with the pair seeded seventh at the WTA 1000 event.

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