Ignacio Buse Claims Winston-Salem Title Over Arthur Fery
Arthur Fery’s summer surge hit its first hard stop in Winston-Salem, as the Briton fell 6-3 6-2 to Ignacio Buse in a one-sided final that underlined just how fast the Peruvian is rising.
Eight weeks ago, Fery was a curiosity outside the world’s top 100. Now he leaves North Carolina as British number one, ranked 33 in the world, yet still with the sting of a missed first ATP Tour title fresh in his mind.
Buse seizes control
For a few games, the final felt finely poised. Both men traded clean blows from the baseline, each probing, each holding serve without fuss. Then Buse struck.
At 4-3 up in the first set, the 22-year-old pounced. He broke Fery to love, ripping through the game with aggressive returns and suffocating depth. The hold that followed sealed the set and shifted the tone of the afternoon. From there, Buse never really loosened his grip.
Fery, who had lit up Wimbledon by reaching the semi-finals at the All England Club in July, struggled to find the same spark. His serve, usually a platform, offered too many looks. His forehand, often his release valve under pressure, misfired at key moments.
The pressure told again early in the second set. Buse raced into a double-break lead, hammering away from the back of the court and refusing to let Fery settle into any kind of rhythm. The Briton clawed one break back, a flicker of resistance, but it was brief. Buse shut the door with three straight games, finishing the job with the authority of a player who expects to be in these positions often.
Record-breaking win for Buse
This was no ordinary title for Buse. Victory makes him the youngest champion in the history of the Winston-Salem Open, and it adds a second tour-level trophy to a breakout season that already includes his ATP 500 triumph over Tommy Paul in Hamburg in May.
The Peruvian’s performance carried the composure of a player well beyond his years. He managed the occasion, the scoreboard, and the opponent who has become one of the stories of the season, without blinking.
Fery’s rapid rise continues
Defeat will sting, but the bigger picture around Fery is striking. The 24-year-old arrived in Winston-Salem still riding the wave of that astonishing Wimbledon run, where he became the unexpected home favourite and a semi-finalist at his home major. Now he leaves as the first Briton ever to reach the final of this ATP 250 event and with a new status: the man who has overtaken Cameron Norrie at the top of the British rankings.
From outside the top 100 to world number 33 in two months. That kind of rise usually takes years, not weeks.
There is no time for reflection, though. Fery now turns straight to New York and a first appearance at the US Open, which starts on Sunday. The draw has not been kind. He faces Italian 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti in the opening round at Flushing Meadows, a test of both his game and his ability to reset quickly after a draining week.
British interest in New York
Fery will not be alone in carrying British hopes at the final Grand Slam of the season. He is one of nine British players in the main draws.
- In the men’s field, Norrie and Jan Choinski join him, along with qualifiers Toby Samuel and Harry Wendelken, and lucky loser Jacob Fearnley.
- On the women’s side, Katie Boulter leads the charge, supported by qualifiers Fran Jones and Harriet Dart.
There are absentees, too. Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu both miss the US Open through injury, a reminder that British tennis is still juggling promise with fragility.
For Fery, though, the path is clear. The first title will have to wait. The ranking climb will not. And in New York, on one of the sport’s loudest stages, he now walks in not as a surprise package, but as Britain’s leading man.
