Peruvian tennis player Ignacio Buse won the Winston-Salem Open on Sunday, defeating Britain's Arthur Fery to claim his second title of the season.
The 22-year-old secured a 6-3, 6-2 victory in North Carolina to rise to 30th in the ATP world rankings, achieving the highest position of his career.
Buse produced a dominant performance in the final, closing out the match in one hour and 20 minutes. He won 70 percent of his first-serve points and converted four break points against Fery to become the youngest champion in the history of the Winston-Salem tournament.
Path to the Winston-Salem title
The victory capped a standout week on hard courts for Buse, who demonstrated tactical maturity and physical stamina throughout the competition. His route to the final included a hard-fought semifinal victory over French professional Benjamin Bonzi, following victories over high-caliber opposition earlier in the week.
Fery, who represented Great Britain in the final, was unable to counter Buse's aggressive returning and strong service games. The British player had reached the final after a strong run of his own on the North Carolina hard courts.
The Winston-Salem Open is an ATP 250 event held at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, serving as the final men's warmup tournament before the US Open. The hard-court title is Buse's second trophy of 2026, following his ATP 500 title in Hamburg in May.
The ATP Tour features several tournament tiers, ranging from ATP 250 and ATP 500 events up to Masters 1000 tournaments and Grand Slams. Winning titles at both the 250 and 500 levels in the same year marks significant progress for the young Peruvian on the global circuit.
Historic milestone for Peruvian tennis
Climbing to world number 30 in the ATP rankings represents a landmark moment for tennis in Peru. Buse becomes only the third Peruvian player in history to break into the world top 30, consolidating his standing as the country's third-best male player of all time.
He joins an elite national group alongside Pablo Arraya, who reached a career-high ranking of world number 29 in 1984, and Jaime Yzaga, who achieved a peak ranking of 18 in 1989. Yzaga remains Peru's highest-ranked singles player of the open era, having won eight ATP titles during his career.
The ATP ranking system calculates world standings based on a player's best results over a rolling 52-week period, determining eligibility and seeding placement for international competitions.
Seeded entry at the US Open
Buse's elevation into the top 30 guarantees him a seeded position for the US Open in New York, the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the season. He is scheduled to play his first-round match on Tuesday, 1 September, against American player Marcos Giron, with match timings to be set by organizers.
With little time for celebration, Buse travels directly to Flushing Meadows to prepare for his opening match. Seeded status in a Grand Slam main draw protects players from facing other top-32 competitors during the opening two rounds of the 128-player tournament.
