Preview: Arthur Fery vs. Lorenzo Musetti - US Open prediction, form

One of the most high-profile encounters in the opening round of the US Open men’s singles draw will see Arthur Fery square off with Lorenzo Musetti for the first time.

Over the weekend, Fery lost the Winston-Salem Open final to Ignacio Buse, 3-6 2-6, while his upcoming Italian opponent was beaten in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open by Frances Tiafoe earlier this month, 6-7 (2-7) 5-7.

Match preview

He’s been in the running to win numerous singles events on the ATP tour this year, but to date Arthur Ferry has yet to lift a singles trophy in 2026.

The 24-year-old Brit, who got to the most recent Wimbledon semi-finals, has not lost any of his opening matches on the hard court this year.

This upcoming match will be Fery's first at Flushing Meadows, and he has not been eliminated from an opening Grand Slam singles encounter since the 2024 edition of Wimbledon.

So far this year, the French-born player has won 77% of his service games on hard courts and registered a mere 15 double faults.

Fery has suffered just one defeat in a major singles tournament when winning the opening set, while he came back to win three of his 2026 Wimbledon matches after going down one set to none.

This year, he has won 68% of his first-serve points on hard courts but only 20% of his return games overall on that surface.

After missing Wimbledon and the French Open, Lorenzo Musetti is back in a Grand Slam event, hoping to recapture his strong form from the Australian Open at the beginning of 2026.

The quarter-finalist from that event has made it beyond the opening round in four of his last five singles appearances at Flushing Meadows, with his best-ever showing taking place in 2025 (quarter-finals).

Musetti has made the quarter-finals or further in all but two hard court singles events on tour this year, losing in the round of 32 at the most recent ATP Masters Montreal to Rafael Jodar.

Never has he gone on to lose a singles match at this event when capturing the opening set, winning in those last three instances last year in straight sets.

This year, the Italian has won an impressive 82% of his service games on the hard court, while winning 71% of those first-serve points.

On the other side, he has won 41% of his return points on that surface and converted 42% of his break-point opportunities.

We say: Musetti to win in four sets

Fery has shown a lot of potential but needs to improve his overall game on this surface, and we don’t think he has enough to outduel Musetti, who has consistently performed well on the hard court.