Arthur Fery continued his breakout summer by advancing to the final of the Winston-Salem Open on Friday after James Duckworth retired injured with Fery leading 6-4, 1-2. The 24-year-old Briton, who enjoyed a fairy-tale run to the Wimbledon semi-finals earlier this year, had already beaten Cruz Hewitt and qualifier Mees Rottgering and then survived a three-set quarter-final with Aleksandar Kovacevic to reach the last four.
Fery had also defeated Duckworth two weeks earlier in Cincinnati. After taking the first set in Winston-Salem, he moved ahead early in the second before Duckworth was forced to stop. ‘I’m really happy to be in the final,’ Fery said. ‘Obviously, not the way I wanted it to end at all. I hope James is going to rest up and get ready for next week but very happy to be through. I played well in the first set. He was serving very well and tricky but managed to get the break and from then on I thought I was playing good. He was hindered at the start of the second set and I saw it. It’s never easy playing someone who you know is physically challenged, but overall it felt good apart from that last forehand.’
Fery is set to reach a new career-high ranking on Monday; eight weeks ago he was outside the top 100. He will meet Peruvian Ignacio Buse in Saturday’s final. The 22-year-old world No.36, who won his first tour-level title at the ATP 500 in Hamburg in May, defeated Benjamin Bonzi 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to reach his second ATP Tour final. A year ago Buse was ranked No.135 and he is now set to be seeded at the US Open.
Fery will make his main-draw debut at the US Open on Sunday and is scheduled to face Italy’s world No.14 Lorenzo Musetti in the first round, a tough opener as he looks to carry his form into the final Grand Slam of the season.