United Cup
Bouzas Maneiro stuns Gauff to offer Spain 1-0 lead over USA
Taylor Fritz should now beat Jaume Munar to maintain People alive within the Day 4 tie
January 06, 2026
Tennis Australia
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in motion on Monday on the United Cup in Perth.
By ATP/WTA Workers
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro is coming off a breakout 2025 season by which she set a career-high rating of No. 40, reached the fourth spherical of a Grand Slam for the primary time at Wimbledon and made her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal in Montreal.
On Monday on the United Cup, the Spaniard carried that momentum into 2026, upsetting World No. 4 Coco Gauff in dominant trend, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-0 at RAC Area. The loss is Gauff’s first on the United Cup in 10 matches throughout singles and doubles; she entered the day 6-0 in singles and 9-0 general.
The win marks Bouzas Maneiro’s first profession High-5 victory and provides Spain a 1-0 lead over the US forward of the lads’s singles match between Taylor Fritz and Jaume Munar.
“I do know Coco and she or he’s a fighter,” Bouzas Maneiro mentioned after the match. “She’s there on a regular basis within the match, so I knew that I needed to be there, and even when I’m 4-1 up, I’ve to be there. And yeah, she received the second set and I went to the lavatory and I used to be making an attempt to focus simply to take it level by level.
“And that was my mentality within the third set. To be [there] with energy each level as a result of even in case you are [up] 3-0 or 4-0, it’s a must to be prepared.”
Bouzas Maneiro set the tone instantly, breaking Gauff within the opening recreation en path to a 5-0 lead. She went on to interrupt the American in all 4 of her service video games within the first set and 9 occasions general.
Her forehand — which produced 11 winners within the match — fueled her early surge, however her return recreation, paired with Gauff’s serving struggles, outlined the remainder of the match. It was a stark distinction to Gauff’s dominant efficiency earlier within the week in opposition to Argentina’s Solana Sierra.
Gauff landed simply 60% of her first serves and received just below 60% of these factors. She was additional undone by 14 double faults and 54 unforced errors. Bouzas Maneiro might solely match Gauff’s first-serve numbers however managed her unforced errors extra successfully (41) and transformed 9 of 12 break factors.
Nonetheless, Gauff refused to go quietly regardless of her struggles. She rallied from 4-1 all the way down to take the second set in a tiebreak and appeared poised for a outstanding comeback. However Bouzas Maneiro broke to open the decider and by no means seemed again, racing to a 4-0 lead after saving two break factors in a five-deuce recreation.
After 2 hours and 12 minutes, Bouzas Maneiro closed out the match with a third-set bagel, incomes a little bit of redemption after being blanked in a deciding set by Sierra earlier within the week, and secured the most important win of her profession.
