Wimbledon hero Arthur Fery fell back to earth on Tuesday as he was beaten 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 on his US Open debut by Italian 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti.
The 24-year-old Briton, who made the semis at Wimbledon as a wildcard in July, came into the event ranked a career- high No. 33 but Musetti, a quarterfinalist last year, was far too strong as he wrapped up victory in two hours, nine minutes.
Musetti dominated the first two sets but Fery fought hard in the third, breaking for 2-0 and then coming from 4-2 down to level at 5-5. But Musetti broke again and then served out to take his place in the second round.
"At 5-3, I had match point and didn't hit the passing shot very well and I felt a little bit the fear when I served at 5-4," said Musetti, who missed the French Open and Wimbledon with a thigh injury. "I was shaking a little bit.
"The key for sure was my attitude today. I was really focused. I was not playing my best tennis and not feeling the ball but I was really focused on what I had to do. I'm really happy because missing two grand slams for me was really tough."
It was always going to be a tall order for Fery, even if he arrived in New York in form having reached his first ATP Tour final in Winston-Salem last weekend, his first tournament since Wimbledon. He was also unlucky not to be seeded, being one place out of the top 32.
The early stages were pretty even but Musetti was testing Fery with clever variation on his serve, mixing flat hits at more than 130mph with kickers that lifted well above the 5ft 9in Briton's shoulders. One sumptuous backhand lob also highlighted Fery's lack of height.
But it was mistakes from Fery that gifted Musetti the first break, back-to-back double faults giving him a 4-3 lead. The Italian broke again two games later to seal the first set and the second set was a similar story, with more Fery errors handing Musetti a 4-2 lead that he never looked like squandering.
Both players took bathroom breaks before the start of the third set and it seemed to do the trick for Fery as he broke for 2-0 thanks to a rare Musetti backhand error. But he couldn't consolidate the break and quickly found himself 4-2 down.
At Wimbledon, Fery showed his fighting spirit on more than one occasion and when he saved match point at 5-3 and then broke back to level at 5-5, he might have been dreaming of a miraculous comeback.
But Musetti knuckled down, broke serve again to lead 6-5 and then served out comfortably to set up a second-round match with Australian wildcard Dane Sweeney.
"At 5-3, I had match point and didn't hit the passing shot very well and I felt a little bit the fear when I served at 5-4," said Musetti, who missed the French Open and Wimbledon with a thigh injury.
"I was shaking a little bit.
"The key for sure was my attitude today. I was really focused. I was not playing my best tennis and not feeling the ball but I was really focused on what I had to do. I'm really happy because missing two grand slams for me was really tough."
Fery told Sky Sports he's considering playing in the doubles event here but his next big singles outing will be in Davis Cup at home to Ecuador later this month, where he will be British No 1.
"It's going to be great, really looking forward to that," he said. "Looking forward to practising and getting in shape, to represent my country and to play as No 1 Brit for the first time, at home, it's going to be special."
