It was only days ago that Ignacio Buse stirred up a major controversy through his questionable remarks on Elena Rybakina. He claimed that any player in the top 100 or 200 of the ATP Rankings, including him, could defeat the Kazakh. But those words almost came back to bite Buse in the Davis Cup as Peru took on Paraguay. It was here that he survived a huge upset against World No. 2151, Hernando Jose Escurra Isnardi.

Buse locked horns against Isnardi in the first round of the match. The Peruvian was the heavy favorite to win the clash, but he wasn’t able to gain control in the opening set. It was decided in a tiebreaker, where Buse triumphed 7-4. However, Isnardi turned the tables in the second set. He delivered a solid performance to level the match and drag it to a decider.

The Paraguayan was the better player for most of the third set as well. He earned an opportunity to serve for the match at 5-4. But a lack of experience showed as he allowed Buse a way back into the match. Isnardi lost his serve twice in a row, losing the match 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 after three hours and nine minutes.

Buse would definitely have breathed a sigh of relief after the match. It wouldn’t have looked great if he had lost to a player ranked 2116 places below him just days after making controversial remarks about Rybakina. Isnardi may have come out on the losing side, but he can leave with his head held high. It was a performance that will give him a lot of confidence, as he almost pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament.

Things got better for the Peruvian team after Buse handed them the lead. The second round saw Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas face Daniel Vallejo. Peru’s lead was doubled soon after as Varillas recorded a hard-fought 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 victory. This was a major upset, as Varillas is ranked No. 190 in comparison to Vallejo’s rank of No. 58.

Despite standing on the verge of defeat, the Paraguayan team didn’t lose hope and went on to make a remarkable comeback in the tie. The third round saw a doubles clash take place between Peru’s Ignacio Buse and Arklon Huertas del Pino and Paraguay’s Daniel Vallejo and Martin Antonio Vergara del Puerto.

The Paraguayan pair clinched the match 6-3, 7-5 to avoid defeat. Buse returned to the court for the fourth round and took on Vallejo. But this time, he wasn’t as lucky as before. Though the Peruvian took the first set, Vallejo went on to deliver a stunning performance under pressure to win 5-7, 7-5, 7-6. This result levelled the tie at 2-2, and the match was dragged to a decider.

Peru edge Paraguay 3-2 in thrilling Davis Cup clash

The fifth and final round saw Peru’s Varillas lock horns against Paraguay’s Isnardi. While Varillas had won his previous match of the tie, Isnardi had suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Buse.

Though the ranking gap was huge yet again, the match was still expected to be a close affair. However, after delivering a superb performance against Buse, Isnardi wasn’t able to play at the same level against Varillas. He suffered a 6-2, 6-4 defeat as Peru triumphed 3-2 over Paraguay in the dramatic match.

The match reached a conclusion after an hour and 25 minutes. Varillas remained strong on his serve throughout the match and didn’t suffer a break. On the other hand, he converted three of the four break points he earned.

Isnardi never really looked to be in the match, as Paraguay failed to progress. On the other hand, the victory means that Peru has advanced directly to the first round of the Davis Cup qualifiers.