Magic Buse: Qualifier Buse Beats Paul for Maiden ATP Title in

By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, May 23, 2026
Photo credit: bitPanda Hamburg Open Facebook

Peruvian flags bobbed in the crowd like ships at sea.

Qualifier Ignacio Buse splashed to the red clay celebrating career breakthrough.

In a performance of poise and power, Buse beat Tommy Paul 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3 to capture his maiden ATP championship at the bitPanda Hamburg Open today.

It’s a milestone moment for Lima-native Buse, the second Peruvian to win a Tour-level title on European clay in the
Open Era following Pablo Arraya’s 1983 Bordeaux win.

Playing bold drives, Buse is Peru’s first tour-level champion since Luis Horna at 2007 Vina del Mar, the first qualifier this season to raise an ATP title and the first qualifier since Valentin Vacherot in Shanghai last October.

Showing no fear, Buse hit 27 winners, five more than Houston champion Paul, and saved eight of the 13 break points he faced.

“First of all I want to congratulate, Tommy,” Buse said. “I think you are a better person than a player you are surrounded by a great team so I wish you the best for the season.”

How rare is it for a qualifier to raise an ATP 500-level title?

Consider, Buse is just the third qualifier in ATP 500 series history to win a title after Nikoloz Basilashvili at 2018 Hamburg and Daniil Medvedev at 2018 Tokyo.

The sixth-seeded Paul, who fought off seven match points to edge Argentinean Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the second round, applied his versatility to extend this final. In the end, Paul had no answer for some of Buse’s jolting drives.

Buse converted his fifth break point of the game for a 2-0 third-set lead then quickly backed up the break stamping a love hold for 3-0.

“I want to congratulate Ignacio and your team,” Paul said. “An amazing week really I enjoyed watching you play all the way—until today—but seriously [you hit] some amazing shots.”

This victory propels Peruvian Buse, a former Top 10-ranked junior, to a new career-high ranking of No. 31 in the ATP Live Rankings.