Montreal ¨C Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and Canadian teen sensation Victoria Mboko booked a championship showdown with gritty semifinal wins at the WTA Canadian Open in Montreal on Wednesday.

Osaka, chasing her first tour-level title since the 2021 Australian Open, saved a pair of set points in the second-set tiebreaker to polish off a 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) victory over Denmark¡¯s Clara Tauson ¡ª who was coming off wins over Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek and Australian Open winner Madison Keys.

The former world No. 1 has struggled to find consistency since returning from maternity leave in 2024.

She has looked re-energized this week after a coaching shakeup and rolled through the first set against Tauson.

But Tauson twice regained a break in the second set as she pushed it to the tiebreaker where she had chances to level the match after taking a 6-4 lead.

Unable to convert her set points, the Dane saved one match point to make it 7-7, but Osaka won the next two to seal the victory and reach her first final in a WTA 1000-level event since Miami in 2022.

Mboko saved a match point in a thrilling 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) victory over former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

The 18-year-old wild-card fed off the energy of the crowd, crediting ecstatic supporters with carrying her through after a tumble left her with a sore right wrist in the third set of her first tour-level semi-final.

Mboko, who ousted top-seeded French Open champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round, didn¡¯t let it stop her.

After going down a break early in the third set, she refused to go quietly, loading up on her forehand and fending off a match point as she broke Rybakina in the 10th game to level the set.

A couple of untimely double faults helped ninth-seeded Rybakina break back for a 6-5 lead, but the No. 9 seed from Kazakhstan was broken at love in the next game, setting the stage for the tiebreaker drama.

¡°After I had that fall I wasn¡¯t in the greatest spirits, but I¡¯m happy that I kept my composure, and I was kind of patient in the right moments,¡± said Mboko, who won the last three points of a decider she called ¡°stressful.¡±

¡°Anything can happen,¡± an exhausted Mboko beamed as the crowd¡¯s cheers rained down on her.

¡°Unfortunately I fell, but I had everyone supporting me and pushing me.¡±

Mboko started the season ranked outside the top 300 but had worked her way up to 85th coming into the week by grinding away in lower-level tournaments.

She is assured of breaking into the top 40 no matter the result against Osaka.