The Canadian teen sensation is into the fourth round of the Australian Open on her Melbourne Park senior debut, where she has the daunting task of tackling two-time champion Sabalenka.
But where others would be nervous, the unflappable Mboko can't wait.
"It's super cool. I've never played a current No.1 in the world. That's going to be a very different experience," Mboko said after her 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 6-3 win over Clara Tauson.
"I assume we'd be playing on Rod Laver, as well. I've never played on a grand slam centre court either. A lot of firsts.
"I'm just really excited. It's something not many people get to experience. To be doing that on Sunday is, I think, really cool - just to show what I got."
The young gun is also playing doubles with fellow teen sensation Iva Jovic.
Mboko, who won the Canadian Open last year then made the final of the Adelaide International - losing to fellow teenager Mirra Andreeva - is just relishing the ride.
"It's my first-ever fourth round in a grand slam. It's my first time playing the Australian Open. This is a really cool experience," she said.
Two-time Melbourne Park champion Sabalenka is well aware of what the Canadian sensation can do.
"She's a great player. She's a fighter. She's playing really good, aggressive tennis," the Belarusian star said.
"She's playing really great tennis. Really heavy shots ... I know it's going to be a great battle. I'm super-excited to face her for the first time."
Sabalenka, now 27, believes the current teenage guns are far more mature than she was at their age.
"Maybe for me, like, it would be really tough to handle the success at a young age," Sabalenka said.
"But I feel like now seeing these girls, so like young age achieving so much, playing such a great tennis, being really mature, it's incredible. I feel like they mature much faster than, for example, on my example, than I did.
"It's incredible to see how actually, like, smart they are and the approach is really, really good. They have a great team around them. It's cool to see."
But Sabalenka was happy to pile pressure on an opponent who, on paper, has nothing to lose.
"That's the challenge. They go out there and they have nothing to lose. But also, at the same time, I don't believe that mentality that they have nothing to lose - because I've been in their shoes," she said.
"You still go out there with hopes that you're going to win this one, you're going to be the young one to win the slam. They still have something to lose."
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