Arthur Fery, the surprise Wimbledon semi-finalist, fell in his US Open debut to Italian 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti in a tightly contested match that ended 6-3, 6-3, 7-5. Fery, who had surged from 114th in the world rankings to inside the top 40 after his remarkable run at Wimbledon, was unable to replicate that success at Flushing Meadows. Musetti, a player known for reaching semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon, as well as the US Open quarter-finals last year, was returning to the ATP Tour after missing the past two Grand Slams due to a thigh injury. Fery, currently ranked 33rd, was not seeded at the US Open, as only the top 32 players receive automatic seeding. After the match, he acknowledged areas for improvement, particularly his serve, which faltered during the contest. He noted that against top players, the margins for error are minimal and that he struggled to find his rhythm on the serve. This was Fery’s second appearance at an overseas major, following his debut at the Australian Open in January. The match took place in hot and humid conditions after being delayed by rain. Fery wore ear plugs during each change of ends, a strategy he used at Wimbledon to maintain focus. Despite a strong start, Fery gave Musetti the opening break with back-to-back double faults and lost serve again, conceding the first set. Musetti’s powerful one-handed backhand repeatedly disrupted Fery and helped him take control of the second set. Fery tried to stage a comeback in the third set, breaking Musetti’s serve to take a 2-0 lead, but Musetti responded with a four-game run to regain momentum. Fery saved a first match point on his serve and broke back to level the set at five games apiece, but he again struggled to capitalize on the opportunity. Musetti converted his third match point to win the match and set up a second-round encounter with Australian Dane Sweeny. Fery admitted he was improving as the match progressed and gradually adapting to the conditions, but a costly error at 5-5 in the third set ended his chances. While disappointed to exit in the first round, Fery emphasized that the experience would not detract from what has been a memorable year for him, having been outside the world’s top 200 just a year ago. Fery, who had never advanced beyond the second round at a Grand Slam tournament before this summer, has few ranking points to defend as he heads to the Asian hard-court swing later this month. Reaching his first ATP final last weekend brought him closer to the top 30 in the world. With Fery’s exit, British hopes in the men’s singles now rest with Jacob Fearnley, Toby Samuel, and Jan Choinski. Choinski’s opening match against Dutch opponent Botic van de Zandschulp was postponed until Wednesday due to heavy rain. In the women’s first round, Francesca Jones was a set up against Poland’s Magda Linette when they were also forced off court for the day.