Top-four seeds Ignacio Buse and Arthur Fery remain on a collision course for the final in Winston-Salem. They still have to get past Benjamin Bonzi and James Duckworth, respectively, in the semis on Friday.
(3) Ignacio Buse vs. Benjamin Bonzi
Bonzi escaped a close call against Quentin Halys in the Winston-Salem Open second round, but he has otherwise cruised this week. The 30-year-old Frenchman required just two sets to see off Kamil Majchrzak, Rinky Hijikata (6-1, 6-1), and Botic van de Zandschulp.
Up next for Bonzi on semifinal Friday is a first-ever showdown against Buse, who has earned 20 of his 28 career main-tour match wins in 2026. The 22-year-old Peruvian has advanced in Winston-Salem with defeats of Adam Walton, Daniel Altmaier, and Juan Manuel Cerundolo. Buse is more of a clay-courter and he endured a tougher quarterfinal match against Cerundolo, so Bonzi should have the edge in this one.
Pick: Bonzi in 3
James Duckworth vs. (4) Arthur Fery
Fery and Duckworth will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers and for the second time this month. They just faced each other in Cincinnati, where Fery survived a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4) thriller for his first victory over the Australian. Duckworth had previously prevailed twice at the Challenger level in 2024.
Following his miracle run to the Wimbledon semis, Fery’s fine form has continued with Winston-Salem victories over Cruz Hewitt, Mees Rottgering, and Aleksandar Kovacevic. Duckworth secured his spot in the last four by beating Quinn Vandecasteele, Mariano Navone, Lorenzo Sonego, and Fabian Marozsan. This will probably be a close one, and Fery has handled those kinds of matches incredibly well with impressive mental toughness this summer. We saw it at Wimbledon, against Duckworth in Cincinnati, and against Kovacevic from a set down on Thursday.
Pick: Fery in 3
WWW?
Bonzi in 2…Fery in 2.
Buse in 3, and that’s a guarentee
yep
Bonzi in 2-Buse gets broke way to often and Bonzi holds serve to win this.
welp
Duckworth 🦆 in 3! He on fire right now! Ducky! Quack Quack!!
I’m cheering for Duckie too and think he can do it as revenge. He’s been playing his best and it’s possible Fery might feel too certain he’s going to beat Duckie again, which can blow up in his face. Duckie won’t give up, will play to the very last point.
Btw I called Duckworth in the final somewhere else 🙂
close but no cigar
Yeah; and the stats were already looking better for Duckie for Set 2. Does anyone know why Duckie pulled out? Preexisting injury aggravation? New injury?
hip
new i assume, otherwise he would not have played this week
Oh ouch. Probably not play the US Open then.