Despite Gauff’s heavy loss, the United States still progressed to the quarter-finals, while Greece sealed their place in the knockout stage over Great Britain thanks to a landmark win for Maria Sakkari over Raducanu.
Gauff was plagued by familiar serving issues as she suffered a heavy defeat to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro at the 2026 United Cup.
The American fell 1-6, 7-6(3), 0-6 to world No 42 Bouzas Maneiro in the first rubber of the United States’ tie against Spain at the United Cup in Perth.
The world No 4 was broken by the 23-year-old Spaniard in nine of her 13 service games, and committed an alarming 14 double faults on the 32 second-serve points she played.
After the match, Gauff said: “Yeah, obviously it wasn’t a great match for me. I tried my best to fight back with what I had in that moment, but yeah, once it was over, I kind of just sat in the bathroom for a little bit.”
After Gauff’s loss to Bouzas Maneiro, Taylor Fritz overcame Jaume Munar in a third-set tiebreak in the second match to level the tie.
In the deciding doubles match, Gauff teamed up with Cristian Harrison, and the pair prevailed 7-6(5), 6-0 to clinch a 2-1 triumph for the USA.
This ensured the defending champions’ progress to the quarter-finals of the United Cup as winners of Group A.
The United States will play their quarter-final tie on Wednesday, with their opponents yet to be determined.
In the tie between Greece and Great Britain, World No 51 Sakkari backed up her impressive opening win against Naomi Osaka with another impressive victory against Raducanu, beating the world No 29 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Sakkari had never beaten Raducanu in four previous meetings – and had not previously won a set in any of those contests – though she ran away with the deciding set in this encounter after the pair split two tight sets.
With Stefanos Tsitsipas battling past Billy Harris earlier in the evening, her win over Raducanu sealed victory in the tie and ensured Greece’s progression into the knockout stage of the mixed team event.
“It feels amazing,” said Sakkari, speaking in her on-court interview.
“Thank you so much guys [the fans] for staying. I know it’s very, very late, so thank you for staying and supporting us. It means a lot for us. Having the team by my side really, really helped me today.
“Emma, I’ve had four tough losses against her, so to get that first win against her, against a great opponent, it means a lot – especially delivering for Team Greece. I’m super happy.”
