Musetti Defeats Fery in Straight Sets at Flushing Meadows

Arthur Fery arrived in New York riding a surge few saw coming six months ago. A wild card Wimbledon semi-finalist, a first ATP final in North Carolina, the new British number one at 24. The momentum was real. So were the expectations.

Lorenzo Musetti stopped all of that on Grandstand.

The Italian 13th seed produced a controlled, clinical performance to beat Fery 6-3 6-3 7-5, a straight-sets scoreline that told the story of a match decided on the biggest points rather than long passages of dominance.

For a set and a half, Fery went with him. Rally for rally. Angle for angle. Musetti’s backhand carved its usual elegant patterns, but Fery’s own ball-striking held up in the New York heat. Then came the crack.

Serving at 3-4 in the opening set, Fery played the one game he could not afford. A loose service game, punctuated by two damaging double faults, handed Musetti the break. The Italian did not need a second invitation. He closed out the set with the calm of a man who has been deep into a major before.

The second set offered Fery his opening. Trailing 4-2, he finally forced Musetti to wobble, carving out four break points. This was the moment that had defined his Wimbledon run, the moment when he had repeatedly found a way back from the brink.

Not this time.

Each chance slipped away, the last ending with a forehand dropping tamely into the net. Fery threw his arms up in frustration, the roar of Grandstand washing over him as Musetti escaped. The Italian tightened his grip, holding firm to move two sets clear.

Still, Fery did what he has done all summer: he refused to fold.

At the start of the third set, the match flickered. Musetti’s usually immaculate backhand, the shot that had set the tone all afternoon, floated long to gift Fery his first break of the match. Suddenly, the British number one had a foothold. The crowd sensed it. So did Musetti.

The response was immediate. The Italian stepped in, raised his weight of shot, and forced two break-back points. Fery saved the first with a superb forehand winner, ripping it into the corner. On the second, he went for the line with his backhand and missed by millimetres. The chance to build real scoreboard pressure vanished with it.

From there, the toll of the past week began to show. Fery’s run to the final at the Winston-Salem Open had been exhilarating, but it left a mark. By the middle of the third set his legs no longer had their usual spring, his movement a fraction slower, his energy dulled just enough for a player of Musetti’s class to sense weakness.

Another break followed, this one almost gift-wrapped. Errors crept in, the first-serve percentage dipped, and Musetti, himself a former Wimbledon semi-finalist, did exactly what seasoned seeds do at the majors: he closed in without mercy.

Still, Fery fought to the last. He saved two match points with the defiance that has quickly become his trademark, forcing Musetti to serve it out under real pressure. On the third match point, the Italian took the racquet out of his hands, thundering down an unreturnable serve to end it.

No dramatics. No collapse. Just the end of a short, sharp New York campaign for Britain’s new standard-bearer, and a clear reminder of the level he now has to live with every week.