Ignacio Buse tops Arthur Fery, becomes youngest Winston-Salem champ

Third-seeded Ignacio Buse of Peru captured his second ATP Tour title of the season Saturday, defeating fourth-seeded Arthur Fery 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina.

Buse needed just 72 minutes to dispatch Great Britain's Fery and become the youngest champion in tournament history at 22 years and 5 months. The Peruvian surpassed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, who was one month older when he won the event in 2019.

After wrapping up the opening set in 30 minutes, Buse put increasing pressure on Fery's serve in the second. He broke three times in the set and converted four of his seven break-point opportunities overall, using his forehand to control much of the match and prevent Fery from finding a sustained rhythm.

The championship continued a breakthrough season for Buse, who also won the ATP 500 event in Hamburg in May for his first tour-level title. He became the second Peruvian man to capture an ATP Tour tournament on hard courts, joining Jaime Yzaga, and is projected to return to his career-high world ranking of No. 31.

Fery was appearing in his first ATP Tour final after reaching the championship match without dropping a set along the way. The 24-year-old, who advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals last month, is projected to climb to a career-best No. 33 and become the top-ranked British player when the new ATP rankings are released Monday.

--Field Level Media