Gauff's redemption in mixed doubles sends U.S. to United Cup quarterfinals

Coco Gauff redeemed herself on the mixed-doubles court to send the United States into the United Cup quarterfinals in Perth on Monday, teaming with Christian Harrison for a 7-6 (5), 6-0 win over Inigo Cervantes and Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers. The pair rallied from an early break in the opening set, and the result eliminated Spain from the competition.

Earlier, World No. 9 Taylor Fritz saved a match point against Jaume Munar to keep the defending champions’ hopes alive after Gauff lost the opening singles match in three sets to World No. 42 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro -- the biggest win of Bouzas Maneiro’s career by ranking and an early jolt to Gauff’s 2026 season on the WTA Tour driven by Mercedes-Benz.

The comeback ensured the United States topped Group A and advanced.

United Cup: Scores | Standings

"Obviously it wasn't a great match for me," Gauff said to reporters on the defeat to Bouzas Maneiro. "I tried my best to fight back with what I had in that moment. Once it was over, I kind of just sat in the bathroom for a little bit -- I had a lot of confidence in Taylor -- so I was just trying to make sure that I was ready for mixed.

"I think that's the beauty of this event that you have other people could pick you up on your off days."

Taking the court after Gauff’s three-set loss, Fritz knew the defending champions would not win the group if he dropped his second match of the tournament, having already lost his opener to Sebastian Baez.

Fritz earned his first break points of the match at 5-6 in the third set but couldn’t convert either match point. He then saved a match point in the deciding tiebreak before closing out a 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (6) victory in 3 hours, 14 minutes.

"It was a crazy match," Fritz said on-court. "I thought Jaume played very well. I felt I was in a lot of his service games, but he played so well on so many of the big points.

"I had to come up with a lot to keep myself in the match or convert any of the big points. It was really tough, really physical."

Fritz took a seven-minute medical timeout at 4-all in the third set to treat a bloodied toe after a long slide chasing a drop shot. He saved a break point in the following game. Fritz is hoping for a repeat of last year’s United Cup run, when he also dropped his opening match before winning four in a row to guide the Americans to their second title in three years.

He entered the tournament after intensive offseason rehab on his knee for what he described as "pretty serious tendonitis," but he didn’t give an inch to Munar in a series of grinding baseline exchanges. The World No. 9 also fired 16 aces, adding to the 22 he hit against Baez.

It was a monumental effort from Fritz, required only because Bouzas Maneiro -- who enjoyed a breakout 2025 highlighted by her first Grand Slam fourth round and a career-high ranking of No. 40 -- stunned Gauff earlier in the day.

Seemingly intent on carrying her 2025 breakthrough into the new season, the Spaniard upset Gauff in convincing fashion, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-0, at RAC Arena. It was Gauff’s first United Cup loss in 10 career matches across singles and doubles; she entered the day 6-0 in singles and 9-0 overall.

The victory marked Bouzas Maneiro’s first career Top 5 win and gave Spain a 1-0 lead over the United States ahead of the men’s singles match between Fritz and Munar.

"I know Coco and she’s a fighter," Bouzas Maneiro on-court 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."

Bouzas Maneiro set the tone immediately, breaking the World No. 4 in the opening game en route to a 5-0 lead. She went on to break the American in all four of her service games in the first set and nine times overall.

Her forehand -- which produced 11 winners in the match -- fueled her early surge, but her return game, paired with Gauff’s serving struggles, defined the rest of the match. It was a stark contrast to Gauff’s dominant performance earlier in the week against Argentina’s Solana Sierra.

Gauff landed just 60% of her first serves and won just under 60% of those points. She was further undone by 14 double faults and 54 unforced errors. Bouzas Maneiro could only match Gauff’s first-serve numbers but managed her unforced errors more effectively (41) and converted 9-of-12 break points.

Still, Gauff refused to go quietly. She rallied from 4-1 down to take the second set in a tiebreak and appeared poised for a remarkable comeback. But Bouzas Maneiro broke to open the decider and never looked back, racing to a 4-0 lead after saving two break points in a five-deuce game.

After 2 hours and 12 minutes, Bouzas Maneiro closed out the match with a third-set bagel, earning a bit of redemption after being blanked in a deciding set by Sierra earlier in the week, and secured the biggest win of her career despite her country's elimination.

"It's just good to experience those pressure moments early in the season, especially since this is my only event before Australia," Gauff said. "I would prefer to win in straights, but it doesn't hurt to go three -- more so when you're on the winning side of it."