Jessica Bouzas Maneiro may not be as well known as some of her Spanish compatriots, like Paula Badosa or Sara Sorribes Tormo, but the world No. 74 has already made a splash during this year’s Grand Slam season.
In this year’s edition of Wimbledon, she took out No. 6 seed and defending champion Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. At that time, it was only her third WTA tour level win and first Top 10 win, making the result even sweeter.
With that win, Bouzas Maneiro became the first person since Lori McNeil—who beat Steffi Graf—to knock out a defending champion in the first round. She would continue her magical run by beating fellow Spaniard Cristina Bucsa in straight sets before retiring against eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova.
In her first main draw in New York, Bouzas Maneiro is looking to continue to build upon her strong season as she will face a confident No. 6 seed, American Jessica Pegula.
Below are a few facts on the young Spaniard ahead of Saturday’s matchup.
Bouzas Maneiro is continuing to build on her breakthrough year on tour.
Although her time on the WTA tour is limited and has played mainly ITF tour level events this year, the world No. 74 boasts an impressive 45-19 record that also includes three titles, one of which was a WTA 125 title in Antalya, her first pro tour level title. Her newfound confidence and success—which she credits to a coaching switch that happened last September—earned her a spot inside the Top 100 for the first time back in April.
She looks to create great memories here in her third trip to the Big Apple.
Bouzas Maneiro is no stranger to New York. She first made an appearance here as a junior back in 2019 where she made the second round, losing to American Katrina Scott in three sets. Her first senior US Open appearance came last year in the qualifying rounds, but her time in the Big Apple was cut short as she fell to Timea Babos in Round 1.
Bouzas Maneiro seemingly plays her best tennis against players ranked higher than her.
When facing tougher and higher seeded opponents, the young 21-year-old is not deterred and embraces the challenges a top player presents. On top of her impressive win against Vondrousova, Bouzas Maneiro has beaten seven Top 100 opponents over the last two seasons and owns only one Top 50 win—against Arantxa Rus—which came last year in August.
In the year’s final slam, Bouzas Maneiro continues to rise to the occasion. En route to the third round, the Spaniard swiftly took out tour veteran Petra Martic, 6-3, 6-0. She then followed up that strong result with a gritty win against an in-form No. 31 seed Katie Boulter.
Without dropping a set in her first two rounds, the No. 2 Spanish woman has the chance to not only pull off a big upset on one of tennis’ biggest stages, but to also grab one of the biggest wins of her young career.
