The last time Ignacio Buse and Arthur Fery shared a court, it was for a title. Buse beat Fery in the final at Winston-Salem, according to Laver Cup organizers. This week they will sit on opposite benches at The O2. Organizers named them on Monday as the alternates for Laver Cup London, Fery for Team Europe and Buse for Team World, four days before play begins on Friday.
Neither is guaranteed a match. Alternates are full members of the roster, according to the organizers: they take part in every team activity, practice with the squad and sit courtside on the bench, ready to step in if a teammate is forced to withdraw during the three days of competition.
Fery at home. Fery comes to The O2 from a Davis Cup weekend across town. He won a singles rubber on Saturday as Great Britain beat Ecuador 4-0 in London, according to the ATP Tour, and the sweep put Britain into the Final 8 in Bologna. He lives in Wimbledon, and the arena is one he knows from the stands.
“It’s really special for me. I grew up going to The O2, and now playing for Team Europe in the Laver Cup there is really special in front of all the British fans.”
His season turned at Wimbledon, where he reached the semifinals as a wildcard. The organizers said he was the fifth British man in the Open era to get that far and only the second wildcard to do it, after Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. He beat Flavio Cobolli on the way and lost to Alexander Zverev in the semifinal. Both are now his teammates. He started the year ranked 185th and is 36th now, the organizers said.
Fery played four seasons at Stanford before graduating in 2024, and he said college tennis had prepared him for the bench. “You’ve got to support each other and play for the team, not for yourself as much,” he said in the organizers’ announcement. “I’ll be ready to support my teammates from the bench if that’s what’s required from me.”
Buse, from qualifying to two titles. Buse, 22, made his tour debut only last year and is ranked 35th. He won the ATP 500 in Hamburg as a qualifier, beating Cobolli and Jakub Mensik along the way, and then took the ATP 250 in Winston-Salem, where the final against Fery made him the youngest champion in the tournament’s history, according to the organizers. He had committed to the University of Georgia for 2023 and turned professional instead.
“Being Peruvian and South American, I really love team competitions and being part of a team. I love that feeling of fighting together for something bigger than yourself.” He also named the man on his bench. “Having someone like Agassi as a coach is also an incredible opportunity, given all the experience he has,” Buse said.
The two rosters. Team Europe is unchanged since July. Captain Yannick Noah and vice-captain Tim Henman have Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Cobolli, Rafael Jodar, Mensik and Casper Ruud. Team World, under Andre Agassi and Patrick Rafter, is Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Learner Tien, Alexander Bublik, Brandon Nakashima and Francisco Cerundolo. Agassi’s six have changed twice since the US Open, with Cerundolo in for Tommy Paul and Nakashima in for Ben Shelton.
The alternate’s seat may matter more than usual this year, because some of the 12 arrive from a long weekend of Davis Cup. Zverev won both of his singles matches in Halle, finishing on Sunday with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Dino Prizmic that sent Germany to Bologna, according to the ATP Tour and the Associated Press. Four days later he is due on court in London.
When and where. The Laver Cup runs from 25 to 27 September at The O2, and Team World are the defending champions. The schedule, format and viewing guide are in our Laver Cup 2026 preview, and every past result is in our list of Laver Cup winners.
