Musetti Halts Fery’s Flushing Meadows Journey in Straight Sets

The surge had to stall somewhere. For Arthur Fery, it happened under the lights of Grandstand, against a man who has already walked this path deep into a major.

The 24-year-old Briton arrived in New York riding a rare wave. A historic Wimbledon semi-final as a wild card. A first ATP final in North Carolina just last week. A new status as British number one. This was not a player sneaking into the draw; this was a man expecting to belong.

But Lorenzo Musetti cared little for the narrative. The Italian 13th seed imposed his authority with clinical calm, dismantling Fery 6-3 6-3 7-5 to halt the momentum in the first round at Flushing Meadows.

It was harsher than the scoreline initially threatened to be. For much of the opening set, Fery traded confidently, matching Musetti blow for blow from the baseline. His forehand had bite, his movement carried the same spring that had lit up Wimbledon. The contest felt balanced.

Then came one loose service game. Two double faults. A handful of rushed decisions. The set slipped away, and with it, a chunk of belief. Musetti didn’t need a second invitation; he simply tightened the screws.

Fery knows all about digging himself out of holes. His Wimbledon run was built on improbable comebacks, long matches, and stubborn defiance. When he fell 4-2 behind in the second set, the script looked familiar: pressure the favourite, drag him into a fight, turn the tide.

He had the chance. Four break points. Four looks at Musetti’s serve. Each one vanished, the last ending with Fery’s shot dipping tamely into the net. He flung his arms up in frustration, the roar of Grandstand suddenly distant. Musetti, unflustered, held firm and moved two sets clear.

The third set finally gave the British number one something to cling to. At the start of it, Musetti’s usually immaculate backhand floated long and Fery secured his first break of the match. At last, a crack. At last, a foothold.

The Italian’s response was immediate. Two break-back points arrived in a heartbeat. Fery saved the first with a blistering forehand winner, a reminder of the quality that had carried him here. On the second, he missed by millimetres, a backhand drifting just wide of the line. The opportunity evaporated as quickly as it had appeared.

The toll of the past week began to show. Fery’s exertions in reaching the final at the Winston-Salem Open seemed to drain his reserves. By the middle of the third set, the legs were a fraction slower, the explosive first step dulled. Musetti, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist himself, sensed it and stepped in, gifted another crucial break as Fery’s level dipped.

Still, the Briton refused to walk away quietly. He saved two match points, digging into the last of his energy, forcing Musetti to earn it properly. But the Italian’s serve, so reliable all afternoon, delivered one final hammer blow. On the third match point, he thundered down an unreturnable delivery, sealing Fery’s exit with a single, brutal swing.

No meltdown. No collapse. Just the sharp edge of top-20 quality against a player whose rise has been rapid but whose learning curve at this level remains steep.

Fery left Grandstand with his run in New York cut brutally short, but with a new reality established: he is now a marked man in draws, close to being seeded at majors, close to the protection that status brings. Next time he arrives at a slam, he may not have to face a player of Musetti’s class so early.

For Britain’s new number one, the wave has not broken. It has simply met its first serious resistance on hard courts. The question now is how high it can rise when his body is fresh and the schedule kinder.