Jessica Bouzas Maneiro delivered the biggest upset at this year’s French Open so far by taking out ninth seed Emma Navarro in the opening round. The American is the first top-10 player to fall at the claycourt Slam.
Having come into the tournament in decent form, Bouzas Maneiro took an all guns blazing approach to the match, firing winners at a whim to win 6-1, 6-0. She crushed the return game and never let her opponent hold serve in the entire contest.
The win, while a big one for the Spaniard, was not her first on a big stage. She has also taken out a defending Grand Slam champion in the past and has won a significant number of titles in her young career. In the wake of her latest exploits, let’s take a look at her tennis journey.
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Jessica Bouzas Maneiro's early years and breakthrough
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro took up a tennis racket for the first time at the age of five. She began playing at the Club de Tenis O Rial in her hometown, Vilagarcía de Arousa, before moving to Alicante. Her quick progression meant that she needed more formal training, which she would go on to receive under Javier Marti in the Spanish capital, Madrid.
Bouzas Maneiro began making waves as a teen, making a first final on the ITF Tour in December 2020 at the $15k event, Torneo Internacional de Tenis Ciudad Raqueta, on home soil. While she could not get over the line on that occasion, it did not take her long to capture her first title. She won a $15k event in Cairo a month later to open the 2021 season with a bang.
The Spaniard transitioned into the senior circuit towards the end of 2023 and had a big break after making the Spanish United Cup team as a substitute in 2023. The big match experience helped her on the competitive senior circuit. It took Bouzas Maneiro some time to adjust to the change, but results did follow as she won a WTA 125k crown in Antalya in March 2024, beating the seasoned Irina-Camelia Begu in the summit clash.
Clay has always been her preferred surface, even though her power-packed game is adept at punishing opponents in quicker conditions. That power was on full display when she beat Martketa Vondrousova in the opening round of Wimbledon last year.
The Czech player was the defending champion and admitted to feeling considerable nerves during the match. Still, one cannot take things away from Bouzas Maneiro, who played ferociously. Playing in front of the biggest crowd of her career, the Spaniard did extremely well to drown out the noise and go about her business, winning 6-4, 6-2.
The youngster is someone who wears her heart on her sleeve, and her tattoos provide valuable insights into her personality. She opened up about the "Shh" tattoo on one of her fingers in an interview with Tennis.com after her win over Vondrousova, saying:
"It was one of my first tattoos. It's not about (telling) people to just shut up. When you're a tennis player or (maybe there's) a person in your life... You have a lot of people who (are) saying that you cannot do it. You're so bad, you don't have tennis, you don't have these qualities, your effort is not so good, I don't know... To these people it's like, shut up to them. Of course, not for the good people..."
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro's French Open triumph over Emma Navarro was a long time coming
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro has been playing well on the Grand Slam stage, but a win had eluded her since Wimbledon. She lost to top-10 opponents in both her appearances at the stage since her breakthrough at the All England Club.
There were, however, signs of her potential in both her runs. She made the third round at the US Open to equal her Wimbledon result, but came up short against Jessica Pegula. The youngster then went on to give a good account of herself against two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open this year. She pushed the World No. 1 in a topsy-turvy contest before going down 6-3, 7-5.
The win over Emma Navarro was a bit overdue, and she did not let anything come in her way on Monday. She was explosive from the baseline, pushing her opponent onto the back foot to race to the finish line in 57 minutes. And by the looks of it, she enjoyed her time on the court:
"Right now, I feel really happy with how I played today, with how I handled the pressure," Jessica Bouzas Maneiro said in her on-court interview. "I wanted to do my best, and I think I did it."
Bouzas Maneiro will next take on American Robin Montgomery in the second round at the French Open.
