Musetti Shuts Down Fery’s US Open Aspirations

Arthur Fery arrived in New York surfing a surge of momentum.

A Wimbledon semi-final as a wild card.

A maiden ATP final in North Carolina.

A new status as British number one.

All of it pointed towards another deep grand slam run. Lorenzo Musetti had other ideas.

On Grandstand, the Italian 13th seed applied a cool, clinical hand to a hot story, dismantling Fery 6-3 6-3 7-5 and sending him out of the US Open in the first round.

This was not the mismatch the scoreline suggests, at least not early on. Fery traded with Musetti from the baseline, matched his variety, and looked every inch a man comfortable at this level. He was, for a time, right there with him.

Then came the crack.

Serving in the opening set, Fery produced the kind of loose game that elite opponents feast on. Two double faults, a couple of rushed decisions, and Musetti pounced. The Italian slipped through the gap, broke, and never looked back in the set. One poor game, and the scoreboard swung 6-3.

Fery had made a habit of improbable escapes at Wimbledon, turning matches on their head with fearless hitting and stubborn belief. When Musetti moved 4-2 up in the second set, the stage felt set for another twist.

He had his chance. Four break points. Four openings to drag Musetti into a fight.

Each one disappeared.

On the last of them, a tight rally ended with Fery’s shot tumbling into the net. He flung his arms up in frustration, the moment almost a release of all the effort of the past few weeks. Musetti held, tightened his grip, and closed out the set 6-3 with the assurance of a player who knows exactly how to manage a lead.

Still, Fery refused to fold.

At the start of the third set, he finally broke through. Musetti’s usually pristine backhand, the shot that so often anchors his game, floated long to hand Fery his first break of the match. For the first time, the Italian looked slightly unsettled. The British number one had a foothold.

The response was ruthless. Musetti immediately carved out two break-back points. Fery saved the first with a bold, ripping forehand winner, a reminder of the attacking tennis that had carried him here. On the second, he went for the line with his backhand and missed it by millimetres. The chance evaporated, and with it a large slice of his momentum.

The toll of the past week began to show. Fery’s run to the final at the Winston-Salem Open had been a breakthrough, but by the third set in New York the energy that defined that surge looked dulled. His legs were a fraction slower, his reactions just a touch late. Musetti, himself a former Wimbledon semi-finalist, sensed it and accepted the gifts when they came, helped by another loose service game that handed him a crucial break.

Still, Fery fought to the last ball. He saved two match points with the defiance that has quickly become part of his identity, refusing to let the occasion simply drift away from him. But Musetti stepped up again, this time with the serve. On the third match point, he unloaded an unreturnable delivery that ripped past Fery and sealed the contest.

No drama, no miracle comeback this time. Just a sharp reminder of the margins at the top of the game.

Fery leaves Flushing Meadows earlier than he would have imagined, but not empty-handed. A first grand slam as British number one, a recent ATP final, and the experience of facing a top-20 seed on a big court in New York all feed into the next chapter.

The wave has dipped for now. The question is how high it can rise again when his legs are fresh and his schedule no longer catches up with him.