Bouzas Maneiro Overpowers Gauff for United Cup Breakthrough
Under the lights of RAC Arena, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro turned Coco Gauff’s flawless United Cup run into a gritty three-set battle, handing Spain a crucial 1-0 edge with her first Top 5 win.
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro stepped onto the court in Perth with the glow of a 2025 breakthrough still fresh—climbing to a career-high No. 40, breaking into Wimbledon’s fourth round for the first time, and reaching her initial WTA 1000 quarterfinal in Montreal. That surge carried into the new year, where she dismantled World No. 4 Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-0 on Monday, snapping the American’s 10-match unbeaten streak at the event. The upset, the biggest of the Spaniard’s career, gives Spain a 1-0 lead in the tie ahead of Taylor Fritz facing Jaume Munar.
Gauff arrived undefeated in six United Cup singles matches and nine overall, her earlier dominance over Argentina’s Solana Sierra setting expectations high. Bouzas Maneiro, though, refused to yield to the pressure, her forehand firing 11 winners to break ground early. The match, lasting two hours and 12 minutes, exposed Gauff’s serving inconsistencies while showcasing the Spaniard’s tactical poise.
“I know Coco and she’s a fighter,” Bouzas Maneiro said after the match. “She’s there all the time in the match, so I knew that I had to be there, and even if I’m 4-1 up, I have to be there. And yeah, she won the second set, and I went to the bathroom and was trying to focus just to take it point by point. ”And that was my mentality in the third set. To be [there] with power every point because even if you are [up] 3-0 or 4-0, you have to be ready.“
Early breaks expose serving cracks
Bouzas Maneiro struck first, breaking Gauff in the opening game with a deep crosscourt return that forced a mishit, then building a 5-0 lead as the arena crowd stirred. She converted breaks in all four of Gauff’s service games in the first set, her aggressive returns pairing with the American’s 60 percent first-serve landing rate to dictate play. On the medium-fast hard courts, this pressure turned Gauff’s usual 1–2 pattern into vulnerability, with 14 double faults punctuating the Spaniard’s surge.
The forehand that powered Bouzas Maneiro’s 2025 rise continued to shine, whipping inside-in shots that kept Gauff pinned deep and unable to reset. Gauff won just under 60 percent of her first-serve points, a sharp drop from her performance against Sierra, while Bouzas Maneiro’s own serve held steady despite matching first-serve percentages. This set’s dominance flipped the psychological script, the underdog now forcing the favorite to chase.
Gauff fights back but errors pile up
Gauff rallied from 4-1 down in the second, her athletic retrievals turning defense into offense with crosscourt backhands that drew errors and leveled the momentum. She seized the tiebreak 7-3, her down-the-line replies echoing the resilience that defined her US Open run. Yet 54 unforced errors betrayed the strain, many from overhasty forehands on the true-bouncing surface, contrasting Bouzas Maneiro’s more controlled 41 miscues.
A bathroom break refocused the Spaniard, who emerged mixing heavy topspin to disrupt Gauff’s rhythm with flat drives that exploited second-serve weaknesses. Bouzas Maneiro converted 9 of 12 break points overall, her returns stepping inside the baseline to neutralize the American’s movement. The crowd’s tension built with each double fault, but the fightback only delayed the inevitable shift.
Third-set bagel seals the upset
Bouzas Maneiro broke to open the decider, then held at 2-0 in a five-deuce game, saving two break points with underspin slices that skidded low and a clutch inside-out forehand. She raced to 4-0, her power sustaining as Gauff’s energy waned under the error toll. The 6-0 finish delivered redemption after the Spaniard’s own third-set blanking by Sierra earlier in the week, closing the match with clinical precision.
This victory, born from tactical adjustments on the indoor hard courts, marks Bouzas Maneiro’s evolution into a threat against the elite. As Spain holds the lead, check the United Cup Scores and Standings for the latest updates. Gauff’s first loss here signals the tour’s early intensity, with both players now chasing deeper team success amid national expectations.
