Maria Sakkari vs Jessica Bouzas Maneiro Prediction United Cup Tennis Picks 12/28/24

Maria Sakkari will play her first singles match in almost four months. The Greek player was out of action because of a debilitating shoulder problem which forced her to retire from the first round of the 2024 US Open in late August.

Sakkari decided to shut down her season prematurely in order to prioritize recovery and rest. That meant her 25 wins last season is her lowest return on tour since 2020 when the the coronavirus pandemic forced the sport to halt for a few months.

Sakkari has lost her spot as a Top 10 player and currently finds herself ranked 32nd in the official year-end rankings. The 29-year-old Athenian is part of a formidable duo of Greek representatives at the United Cup (along with Stefanos Tsitsipas).

She has won six of her seven singles matches in this competition and helped Greece reach the semifinal and quarterfinal in each of the last two editions. 

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro Preview

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro lost her singles match against Elena Rybakina in Spain's 2-1 opening defeat to Kazakhstan. In her second appearance for her country the United Cup, Bouzas Maneiro succumbed to a straight sets loss as predicted.

The match took 17 games to decide and about an hour and 19 minutes on the clock. Bouzas Maneiro clocked four double faults in the match and landed only 48% of her first serves.

She won 59% of first-serve points (13/22)and 29% of second-serve points (7/24) while saving only one of five break points on her serve. Bouzas Maneiro won 32% of return points (20/62) and converted one of 10 break points. 

Maria Sakkari vs Jessica Bouzas Maneiro Head-To-Head

• This will be the first career match between Maria Sakkari and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.

Maria Sakkari vs Jessica Bouzas Maneiro Prediction

Just how fit is Sakkari heading into her first singles match since late August? That's the question on the back of my mind as I formulate this prediction. If Sakkari's shoulder issues are persistent, I can see Bouzas Maneiro having a slightly better conversion rate of break points in this match than against the big-serving Rybakina (converted only 1 of 10 break points). The Spaniard didn't play badly against Rybakina, she was just suffocated by unerring pace and accuracy. That said, she's very likely to win nine or more games here.