United Cup: USA just about fend off Spain after match point scare to book spot in quarter-finals

USA survived an early scare in their 2026 United Cup fixture against Spain, coming from a one match deficit to win 2-1 and secure top spot in Group A.

The reigning champions have a very strong team out in Perth, retaining the likes of Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz to their selection. However, it has not been overly straightforward so far, with the doubles matchup having to bail them out for the second time on the spin to cement their spot in the quarter-finals.

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro got Spain off the perfect start after picking up a surprise 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-0 victory over Coco Gauff, boosting their chances of victory.

It is not normal to see Gauff crumble like this, but after five games she was 5-0 down and a three break deficit. She managed to get one of the breaks back but it was far too late to do any damage, with her serve once again being broken for the Spaniard to sprint into the lead.

It was looking concerning for Gauff as she went 3-0 down in the second set, but she managed to rally and win five of the next six games to serve out for the set. However, she was broken to love and a tiebreak would eventually unfold. Gauff found her touch, going 5-1 up before comfortably seeing it out to force a deciding set. Her served proved to be under the cosh once again, as she won a measly five points on it in the third set. This was perfect for Bouzas Maneiro, who was able to hold her serve to breeze past the world number four, and clinch her first top five win.

“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 I 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.”

There was serious concerns over Fritz after his loss to Sebastian Baez, with a knee injury looking to have held him back. However, he was able to get back up to speed with a gritty 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (6) win over Jaume Munar to keep his nation in the fight.

After a match filled with numerous breaks, the first set saw zero break points late alone breaks. Fritz proved to be the stronger in the tiebreak before Munar was able to claw his way back into the match, going 3-0 up as he held to force a highly dramatic third set. It again went to a tiebreak without much challenge, with the Spaniard getting the first match point. However, he failed to take it and wrap up victory for Spain, with the world number nine punishing him for that missed chance two points later as made the scores 1-1.

"It was a crazy match," Fritz said. "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."

Gauff reunited with Christian Harrison for a huge doubles contest against Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers and Inigo Cervantes. It proved to be a match of two halves. The first set was extremely tight, with another tiebreak being needed.

The experience and class of Gauff and Harrison were able to take the slender lead before never looking back. They swept up the remaining six games in the match, closing out the second set and the tie while confirming their spot in the quarter-finals.