Arthur Fery’s Wimbledon high gave way to a bruising New York reality check, as the British No1 saw his US Open debut end in little more than two hours with a 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 defeat to Lorenzo Musetti.
Fery had been agonisingly close to earning a seeded place at Flushing Meadows, but instead found himself handed one of the toughest first-round assignments possible. Across the net stood world No14 Musetti, who navigated the oppressive conditions with ease and rarely looked troubled.
Heavy rain pushed the start time back by around four hours, yet it offered little relief from the dense, muggy atmosphere hanging over Grandstand. The heat clung to the court, Fery’s shirt was drenched almost immediately, and with the balls becoming heavier in the humidity, the Briton struggled to land his attacking shots with any real consistency.
His sharpest spell came early, during a smart and purposeful opening six games in which he used his range to unsettle Musetti and apply pressure. Fery repeatedly backed himself at the net, rushing forward to mix in deft drop shots and punchy volleys as he tried to disrupt the Italian’s rhythm.
But that bold approach carried a cost. Musetti regularly punished Fery’s eagerness to close the court, floating delicate chips over the Briton’s 5ft 9in frame and dropping them safely inside the lines. Even a desperate tweener, whipped between Fery’s legs after he scrambled back towards the baseline, could not alter the direction of the second set.
For the crowd, the early contest was good-looking. Like clever movement? Watch Fery slide up the court to stretch and delicately feed back a sliced volley. More into backhands? Marvel at Musetti’s, a one-handed holdout, struck down the line sumptuously to bring up set point in the first.
Arthur Fery was unable to bypass Lorenzo Musetti on his US Open main draw debut
The Italian has missed the last two majors due to injury but looked a cut above the British No1
But the two men were only level for so long. Musetti missed the last two majors due to injury, but his stronger service game allowed him to remain a cut above Fery. When it dipped briefly in the second set, the Briton failed to pounce, squandering four break points with a string of nervous unforced errors.
A late comeback in the third saw Fery claim two breaks of Musetti’s serve, but each one was chased by his own faltering service game. Fery’s code violation for audible obscenity as he went 6-5 down was understandable, at least.
‘Today, (my serve) really let me down,’ Fery agreed after the match. ‘That was the biggest difference (between us) I think. In the rally, I was going toe to toe, especially towards the end. I was starting to dominate the rallies from the back, and once the play got started, I felt better and better.
‘So it’s positive that I’m starting the rally down a lot of the time because of the serve. He was serving well. He was serving fast and quite accurate. But even in the rally, I felt like I can do things better, even though I’m already I’d say almost 50-50 with a guy who’s top 15 and who has that resume, but yeah, lots of things to work on. They’re still fresh.’
Catapulted into the top 40 just two months ago, Fery has close to zero experience managing his calendar. This week, he arrived as a Winston-Salem Open finalist, and his run of five consecutive matches two days before his first match in Flushing Meadows may have delivered a lesson about what he can handle before a Grand Slam. At this stage in his career, Fery has everything to learn. What Musetti has taught him will sting regardless.
For now however, Fery believes he made the right decision in playing Winston-Salem, in itself, a valuable experience.
‘The Grand Slams are the biggest tournaments, and everyone has their eye on them,’ Fery conceded. ‘But at the same time, would I sign for these past two weeks right now? Yeah, probably.
‘To be honest, it’s a lot of ranking points. It’s a first ATP final, so it’s good. Even though it meant that my preparation for US Open was not great in terms of practicing on site and resting.’
Next, focus will shift to leading his country in Davis Cup tennis on home soil against Ecuador in two weeks time, and then the Asian swing, with events in Tokyo and Shanghai to come. Having only played a small Challenger tournament outside the Chinese city, Fery is looking forward to the likely polar opposite experience of the player-favourite Masters event.
The 24-year-old is also revelling in the new path his career has taken on. Gone are the days of small tournaments, smaller paychecks, and a nervous wait to see if you might make the cut for a draw.
‘It helps a lot,’ Fery admitted. ‘I know that I’m not going to play qualifying events pretty much anywhere. I know that I’m going to be main draws in pretty much every ATP tournament.
Although disappointed in New York, Fery has much to look forward to in the autumn with Davis Cup and new tournaments to play
‘For clarity, it’s great to be where I’m at in the rankings right now, and it helps to plan. I know I’m going to go to Australia (next January). I know that I’ll be playing these main draws in Asia. The only kind of one that’s up in the air is Davis Cup (Finals), and that will affect the rest of the schedule towards the end of the year.’
While Fery’s race is run in New York, qualifier Toby Samuel has his own chance to go toe-to-toe with a seed when he meets world No19 Jiri Lehecka on Wednesday. Ranked 1,871st in the world as recently as January 2025, victory against Lehecka’s fellow Czech Tomas Machac sent him into the top 100.
‘I knew that I had the level to jump up and play here, but obviously not this fast,’ he said. ‘I’ve always believed in myself and obviously now it’s paid off.’
Katie Boulter is another Briton hoping to avoid early Czech-out in the Big Apple with her match-up against Wimbledon finalist Karolina Muchova, while remaining first-round Brits Jan Choinski and Francesca Jones have seen their Tuesday matches delayed by rain.
