Buse denies Fery to seal Winston-Salem and a breakout second title

Ignacio Buse crowned a breakthrough season with the second ATP Tour title of his career, beating Britain’s Arthur Fery 6-3, 6-2 to win the Winston-Salem Open on Saturday, the last tune-up before the US Open.

The No 3 seed was relentless on return in the pair’s first tour-level meeting, breaking the Fery serve four times and winning 61% of the points. Buse, ranked No 36, converted four of his seven break chances and faced only one break point himself; though Fery saved two match points, the Peruvian closed it out to complete a 4-0 week, dropping only one set en route.

At 22 years and five months, Buse becomes the youngest champion in the tournament’s history and only the second Peruvian man in the Open era to win an ATP hard-court title, after Jaime Yzaga. It follows his maiden crown in Hamburg in May, where he became the first Peruvian ATP champion since Luis Horna in 2007, and lifts him back toward his career-high of No 31.

For Fery, it was a first ATP Tour final and a bittersweet end to a fairytale run. The 24-year-old, this year the second men’s wildcard to reach a Wimbledon semi-final in the Open era, after Goran Ivanisevic in 2001, was chasing not only a maiden title but the chance to become Winston-Salem’s first British champion and the first British man to win an ATP title since Jack Draper at Indian Wells in 2025.

He falls short there, but still has plenty to take away: the Britishwill rise to a career-high World No 33 on Monday and become the new British No 1.