Fery outclassed by Musetti on US Open debut

Arthur Fery's US Open debut ends in first-round defeat to Lorenzo Musetti; British No 1's hopes of another Grand Slam fairy tale after Wimbledon dashed in straight-sets loss; watch the US Open live on Sky Sports Tennis, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app

Arthur Fery's hopes of a fairy-tale debut run at the US Open were ended in the first round by a straight-sets defeat to Lorenzo Musetti at Flushing Meadows.

One week on from reaching the final of the Winston-Salem Open, Fery's hopes to replicating his magical run to the Wimbledon semi-finals were dashed in a clinical 6-3 6-3 7-5 defeat to the 13th seed in under two hours.

Fery was crucially broken in the eighth game of the first set as back-to-back double faults gifted the initiative to Musetti, who broke serve again to wrap up the opener 6-3.

Musetti controlled the second set from behind the baseline, clinically rifling backhand winners down the line to break Fery for a third time in the sixth game. He claimed the set courtesy of two flawless service games.

Fery broke Musetti at the first time of asking in the third. Hopes of a comeback appeared short-lived as the Italian struck back immediately to bring the set back on serve.

Musetti turned the screw, moving from a break down to a break up in the fifth game of the set only to wobble when serving for the match as Fery clawed a lifeline break back.

But unforced errors came back to haunt Fery as Musetti, once again, broke back immediately, as the Italian served out the game at the second time of asking.

"What he lacks right now is experience at the highest level. He's 33 in the world and hasn't played a great deal of tennis outside the UK at this level.

"To come up against Musetti, who is a world-class player, has been five in the world and reached semi-finals of Grand Slams, provides clear evidence of what he needs to work on."

"That match point at 5-3, I didn't hit the ball well on the passing shot! Then I had fear and was shaking a bit at 5-4. Even though I served good I missed three easy forehands.

"The key today was my attitude. I was really focused. I didn't play my best tennis and didn't feel the ball well but was focused on what I had to do and stuck to the plan that we had before the match.

"I'm really really happy because I missed two Grand Slams, which was tough, and I'm happy to be back in New York."

The US Open is live on Sky Sports every day until September 13. Stream tennis with no contract on NOW and the Sky Sports App . You can also watch the Laver Cup at The O2 in London from 25-27 September live on Sky Sports.