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MONTREAL: Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko took down top-seeded American Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday, thrilling the home crowd as she reached the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal.

The 18-year-old wild card saved all four break points she faced, and broke reigning French Open champion Gauff three times on the way to a comprehensive victory in just 62 minutes.

Gauff, who had a combined 37 double faults as she struggled through her first two matches, was caught flat-footed as the Canadian teen raced through the first set in 25 minutes.

Gauff buckled down in the second, but she was unable to convert three break chances in the seventh game — coming up short on a drop shot and smacking a forehand into the net on the first two.

She gained anther chance only to hit a service return long, then flew a volley wide to give Mboko a game point, duly converted when Gauff fired a forehand long.

Down 15-30 in the ninth game, Mboko leveled at 30-30 with a blistering backhand, then closed out the hold for a 5-4 lead.

Serving to stay in the match, Gauff fell in a quick 0-30 hole and double-faulted to give Mboko a match point, on which the American hit a backhand into the net.

Mboko will next play either China’s Zhu Lin or Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.

Zhu, once ranked as high as No. 31 in the world, has dropped to 493rd after missing the last five months of 2024 and another three months earlier this year with an elbow injury.

In early matches, former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina outlasted Dayana Yastremska 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 to book a quarterfinal clash with Marta Kostyuk.

Kazakhstan’s Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion who won her first title in more than a year at Strasbourg in May, was slowed by nine double faults.

But she ultimately had enough to get past Ukraine’s Yastremska — who was coming off a straight-sets victory over eighth-seeded American Emma Navarro.

Yastremska fell behind an early break in the first set, but took advantage of Rybakina’s early serving woes to break back, and broke again to take the opening set in a game that Rybakina had led 40-0.

Rybakina, seeded ninth, bore down after that, breaking Yastremska twice to take the second set.

Another untimely double fault cost her a break in the third, but she broke Yastremska for the second time in the set to take a 6-5 lead and held on to seal it on her fourth match point.

She’ll face another Ukrainian in Kostyuk, who came from behind to beat American McCartney Kessler 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

BUDAPEST: A crestfallen Lewis Hamilton declared himself “useless” after qualifying in 12th position for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday as Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc surged to pole position.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton exited the session in Q2 with his head down and his helmet on as the 40-year-old retreated to the team’s motor home.

“I’m useless,” said the British driver.

“Absolutely useless. The team has no problem. You’ve seen the car on pole so they probably need to change driver.”

But he was backed to bounce back by four-time champion Max Verstappen who himself ranted about his Red Bull car and team after struggling to line up eighth on the grid.

“Looking at the whole weekend, I think we’re happy to be in Q3 because I’ve been more outside the top 10 than in it — so, yeah, it’s been difficult this whole weekend,” said the Dutch driver.

“No grip, front and rear, and it was the same in qualifying so, for me, it was not really a shock. I just drove to what I already feel the whole weekend.”

The 27-year-old Dutchman added that Red Bull — who had left a towel in his cockpit during a pitstop on Friday which led him to throw it out of the car, 24 hours after he had declared he was staying for 2026 — did not yet understand the problems with the car.

“No, clearly not,” he said. “I mean, otherwise, of course, we would have changed it already, but somehow, this weekend, nothing seems to work.”

Last year, Verstappen said he had been quick enough to challenge for pole, but this season, “from lap one, it just felt off — and we threw the car around a lot and nothing really gave a direction.

“Now, it’s just nothing works. You know, it’s like just going around in circles and nothing gives you any kind of idea of what to do.”

Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, he said: “There may be a few cars in front of me that I can maybe battle with a little bit and, of course, Lewis is still a bit further down the road which, I think, he shouldn’t be there right? So, he will come through a bit.”

The two multiple champions, who battled so intensely in 2021 when Verstappen claimed his first title after a controversial victory in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, appear to have found a rapprochement and mutual respect.

But Hamilton’s heart-on-sleeve vulnerability as he seeks his first Ferrari podium after 13 races this year may soon become a sad ending story if he cannot sort out his qualifying woes.

As the record-holder of nine poles and a record eight wins at the Hungaroring, he has to produce a rousing reminder of his best racing days on Sunday, as Verstappen expects.