Ignacio Buse Claims Winston-Salem Title, Denying Arthur Fery
Arthur Fery’s summer surge hit its first hard stop in Winston-Salem, where Ignacio Buse coolly shut down the British No 1’s title charge in straight sets.
The Peruvian, already a coming force on the ATP Tour, beat Fery 6-3 6-2 in the final of the ATP 250 event in North Carolina, denying the 24-year-old his first Tour-level trophy on the eve of the US Open.
For Fery, this was still a landmark week. For Buse, it was a statement.
From Wimbledon buzz to a brutal lesson
Fery arrived in Winston-Salem riding the wave of his breakout Wimbledon, where he stunned the field by reaching the semi-finals and turning himself into one of the stories of the tournament. Only eight weeks ago he was ranked outside the world’s top 100. On Monday, he will be up to No 33, leapfrogging Cameron Norrie to become British No 1.
That climb tells its own story. The final told another.
The opening exchanges on Saturday suggested a tight contest. Fery traded blows confidently, matching Buse from the baseline and holding serve without alarm. Then, at 3-4, the match tilted. Buse pounced, breaking to love with a flurry of clean, aggressive returns to move 5-3 ahead. The pressure finally told, and the Peruvian never looked back in the set.
He closed it out 6-3, and the air shifted.
Buse takes control
Any hope of a reset for Fery at the start of the second set vanished almost immediately. Buse tightened the screws, jumped on short balls, and raced into a double-break lead. Fery, who had been so composed through the week, suddenly found himself chasing shadows.
He did claw one break back, a brief reminder of the resilience that has driven his rapid rise, but the window closed as quickly as it opened. Buse shut the door with authority, rattling off three straight games to finish the job and wrap up the title.
It was clinical. It was emphatic.
At 22, Buse is now the youngest champion in the history of the Winston-Salem Open and already a two-time ATP title winner in 2024, adding this trophy to his ATP 500 triumph in Hamburg, where he beat American Tommy Paul in the final. His trajectory is pointing sharply upwards.
New British No 1 heads to New York
Fery leaves without the silverware, but not empty-handed. A first ATP final, a new career-high ranking, and the status of British No 1 mark this as another significant step in a season that has accelerated beyond expectation.
There is no time to linger on what slipped away. Fery now heads straight to New York for his debut at the US Open, which begins on Sunday. His first assignment at Flushing Meadows is a tough one: Italian 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti in the opening round.
He will not be alone in British colours.
Fery joins Norrie, Jan Choinski, qualifiers Toby Samuel and Harry Wendelken, and lucky loser Jacob Fearnley in a six-strong British contingent in the men’s main draw. In the women’s event, Katie Boulter leads the line, joined by qualifiers Fran Jones and Harriet Dart.
Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu are absent through injury, a reminder of how fragile momentum can be at this level.
Fery has discovered that on court this week as well. The question now is simple: can the new British No 1 turn a hard lesson in Winston-Salem into something far bigger in New York?
