Elena Rybakina vs Jessica Bouzas Maneiro Prediction United Cup Tennis Picks 12/27/24

Elena Rybakina is Kazakhstan’s top-ranked player and key to what they do at this tournament.

Rybakina is making her debut appearance at the United Cup. Her last match was incidentally also in a team competition when Kazakhstan defeated South Korea in the Billie Jean King Cup play-offs in November.

The former Wimbledon champion had a tough year in 2024, failing to add to her Grand Slam tally and taking some time off to deal with undisclosed health issues.

She played in just three WTA tournaments after Wimbledon and won two matches.

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro Preview

Bouzas Maneiro is one of the up-and-coming Spanish tennis players on the WTA Tour. She is only 22 and is ranked 56th in the standings, which is only a spot below her career-high ranking.

Bouzas Maneiro won 50 matches in total last year across all levels, lifting two ITF titles and the WTA 125K in Antalya.

Some of her most eye-catching wins include victory over countrywoman Paula Badosa in Madrid and dethroning Czech lefty Marketa Vondrousova as Wimbledon champion at the first hurdle at the All England Club last July.

So, this is a player who cannot be underestimated.

Elena Rybakina vs Jessica Bouzas Maneiro Head-To-Head

• Elena Rybakina and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro have never met at any level before this, so this will be their first career meeting.

Elena Rybakina vs Jessica Bouzas Maneiro Prediction

With Bouzas Maneiro, you are getting a player with an incredible work rate who loves to get everything back. She was so close to breaking the top 50 so late in the 2024 season but for an untimely injury she sustained in Jiujang in her final WTA tournament in October. 

I feel she cannot be written off entirely here given her knack for upsetting the elite players which I have mentioned. Still, this will be a monumental challenge for her coming up against a revitalized Rybakina. This should be a nailed-on win for Kazakhstan.