The fascinating story of Ignacio Buse: the most important tennis stadium in Peru is named after his grandfather and his uncle, his other uncle is a world-famous chef, he was unable to attend university due to a visa that arrived late… and last year he was at great risk for tonsillitis. In Milan he passed the qualifiers: Italy places the two Federico, Gaio and Arnaboldi. Maxi-programme on Tuesday: all first round matches on the pitch.
“Things happen for a reason.” Ignacio Buse repeated the concept several times. Although he is just 20 years old, he is developing the gift of wisdom. It couldn’t be otherwise: only a year ago he underwent a delicate operation on his tonsils. Alone, far from home. They found 18 centimeters of pus in his throat, when it is normal to have 2. Nine times as much. It wasn’t the only crucial step in the life of the 20-year-old Peruvian, former junior number 9 and current ATP number 315. Today he is fine, he has just celebrated the best ranking and qualified for the main draw of the ASPRIA Tennis Cup – BCS Trophy (€74,825, clay). At the end of a match interrupted by rain, he beat Riccardo Bonadio with a double 6-2. “I didn’t know that Milan was his penultimate tournament – he says – I had heard that 2024 would be his last season. He’s a really good player: when you face someone who shoots a one-handed backhand the tactic is different, but against him you can’t set up the game thinking about someone who has a normal shot.” Buse became famous in Peru four months ago when he won a sensational Davis Cup match in Chile against Nicolas Jarry. It wasn’t enough to reach the Davis Cup Finals (the Chileans prevailed in the last singles), but he launched a player – or rather, a character – with a great story to tell. “In Santiago I demonstrated that I have a great level. That victory gave me the strength to believe in it more. Now I know I can be among the best. But I have to work hard to maintain it: I have achieved it, but I have to prove that I can stay there.” Peru has a great tradition and has had champions such as Jaime Yzaga, Luis “Lucho” Horna (Davis’ current captain) and Pablo Arraya, but today – for the first time – it aims to build a movement. Buse is thrilled. “Just a few days ago there was the first national conference for coaches. It is fundamental for the development of the little ones, whose growth depends on teaching methods. Currently the federation is in excellent hands, with president Mario Monroy who was a Davis Cup player, and Duilio Beretta (former ATP n.364, ed.) involved in the youth sector. I contributed by sending an emotional video to the kids. I am convinced that Peru will always have more players: we lacked professionalism, but we are not inferior to the others. Like any other country, we can have excellent tennis players.”
CHEF MISSED
When he talks about it his eyes light up, and it couldn’t be otherwise. Buse is a surname that means a lot in Peru. The stadium where the home Davis Cup matches are played (“Today it is under renovation”) is called “Estadio Hermanos Buse” in honor of Eduardo and Enrique Buse, Ignacio’s grandfather and uncle respectively. “They were excellent players in the amateur era, they participated in the US Championships (ancestors of the US Open, ed.) because they were the best couple in South America. That’s why the stadium is named after them, and that’s where I won my first Davis singles. It’s always an honor to play, I have a special feeling. I would have liked to know my grandfather but his values came through my father Hans, who became a tennis coach. By the way, he arrives in Milan tomorrow.” Buse is a complete player, he knows how to be effective on all surfaces… But he first became a tennis player, and then a professional, a bit by chance. He could have been… a chef. “Gaston Acurio, my mother’s brother, is a world-famous chef. He owns around sixty restaurants on every continent. I don’t know if there is one in Italy, but there is certainly one in France and Dubai… everywhere. As a child he was my point of reference because he is an extraordinary person and a great entrepreneur. It all started with my grandfather, capable of transmitting rare values, such as altruism and care for others. My parents tried to do the same to me. We don’t see each other as much as I would like, but we always meet during Christmas week. You know, Christmas is very important in Peru… Once he even came to Barcelona, where I train and live.” Legend has it that it was his uncle who advised “Nacho” against becoming a chef, because it was too tiring a job to compromise his quality of life. Better to hit balls on a tennis court.
THE GREEN CARD ARRIVED LATE
His transition to pro was also a coincidence, as he had already signed with the University of Georgia Athletics, where he would study and participate in the NCAA championship. He had chosen it for the great tradition (John Isner grew up there) and for the references of coach Manny Diaz. But he never started… “I don’t think what happened to me has ever happened to anyone. In 2019 I applied for a Green Card, in order to obtain residency in the United States. Typically such a process takes a year and a half. But then Covid arrived and everything slowed down. Time passed… and the visa never arrived. The deadline was August 2023, because I finished high school in December 2022 and was supposed to start college in nine months. Nothing to do, it didn’t arrive on time. It’s a shame because they had put together a team that was aiming to win the NCAA title. Besides me there were Alex Michelsen and Ethan Quinn. For one reason or another, none of the three could be there for this season (Alex because he entered the ATP top-100) and therefore they were forced to resort to recruiting. The Green Card arrived a few months ago, but by then it was gone. But I believe things happen for a reason. I stayed in Spain and I’m happy like that.” Buse trains at TEC Carles Ferrer Salat, there is a staff that takes care of him and a few weeks ago he had the chance to train with Denis Shapovalov.
CUT IN THE THROAT
A nice, cheerful boy, with the potential to become a great character. Also because last year he experienced an adventure bordering on the surreal. Maybe he didn’t risk dying, but the detail with which he tells it makes us understand the anxiety with which he experienced it. “I had a sore throat. I took the antibiotic and it went away in three days. Four days later it came back again, so I took an even stronger antibiotic. Hoping it would pass, I went to Colombia to play a Challenger. But on Friday evening, two days before my debut, I had reached the point where not even saliva could pass through my throat. I could hardly breathe. I was alone, so I took a taxi to a clinic… and the doctors couldn’t believe what they saw: eighteen centimeters of pus had formed, when there shouldn’t be more than two. I had emergency surgery, I had to sign who knows how many papers, and I was alone. The doctor told me that there could be some risk because she didn’t know how much pus was there, and there could be complications if it reached the lungs. They gave me a 12cm cut and luckily everything was fine. I didn’t touch a racket for a month, for a couple of weeks I only ate ice cream because it was the only thing that passed… Today I am without a tonsil and this experience has taught me something very important: it is better to prevent than to complain.” His adventure will restart against Enrico Dalla Valle, with the aim of winning his first match in the main draw of a Challenger outside Europe. He deserves it.
ITALY GOES TO NINE WITH GAIO AND ARNABOLDI
Monday’s schedule included three main draw matches, but a three-hour rain interruption slowed the schedule. The intense work of the ASPRIA Harbor Club field workers meant that play resumed around 4.30pm, allowing all the qualifying matches to be completed (at past 9pm). Of the six players admitted to the main draw, two are Italian. The expert Federico Gaio won a far from banal match against the rampant Brazilian Joao Eduardo Schiessl and confirms that he still has a few shots in the tank, after having experienced the thrill of working in the organizational staff at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and the Challenger Turin. His body is intact and the ball is still traveling: the ranking is languishing a bit, but who knows, maybe Milan might be able to give him the points he needs to get closer to Challenger level. Excellent news also from Federico Arnaboldi, winner of two matches in one day: the Lombard beat Moez Echargui in the morning and Raul Brancaccio in a match that ended after 8pm. Great battle in the second set, in which he came back from 5-2 down, also canceling a set point at 5-3 and closing on the fourth matchpoint of a tense tie-break, which ended 9-7. Valuable victories, achieved against better placed opponents than him. Accompanied in Milan by his cousin Andrea, he is confirming the excellent form shown in recent months. Gifted with very pleasant tennis, watching him play makes you wonder why he is number 472 ATP (and has never gone higher than 428th position). He has just turned 24 and is perhaps a little behind the hopes of a few years ago, but if the path is right he still has time to build a robust career. In the draw he will face the other qualifier Federico Agustin Gomez. All the first round matches are scheduled for Tuesday: they will be played on four courts starting from 10 in the morning, with nine Azzurri involved. To follow, of course, the Sicilian derby between Marco Cecchinato and the baby Francesco Cinà.
