challenger
Humble Rise, Proud Name: Inside Ignacio Booth’s Tennis Journey
Learn more about the 21-year-old Peruvian native
October 24, 2025
Alvaro Isidoro/FPT
Ignacio Buse is a two-time ATP Challenger Champion.
Grant Thompson
It’s a mild September day in Lima, and south of the city center, the Peruvian Davis Cup team is on the back foot against Portugal. In front of a jubilant home crowd, Ignacio Busi delivered the decisive blow to defeat Nuno Borges, finishing the match in the stadium named after his family, the Estadio Hermanos Busi (Bus Brothers Stadium), in memory of his grandfather Eduardo and twin brother Enrique, both tennis players.
Eduardo competed in the majors as early as 1942, when he competed in the U.S. National Championships on the lawns of the Western New York Tennis Club. Ignacio never met his grandfather, but his legacy shaped the Booth family tennis tradition.
Although the course at Club Lawn Tennis de la Exposición bears the family’s name, Booth began his journey across town at Villa Country Club. He got his start with his father, Hans, a tennis coach who moved to Miami in 2019 and has been working at the Royal Palm Tennis Club ever since.
“I will always remember the best times I had with my dad,” Booth told ATPTour.com. “Before we started training we played mini tennis and it was a battle for me. Sometimes I was confused about the situation and sometimes I got angry. My dad just wanted to practice and I was happy to play mini tennis with him.”
Booth is ranked 111th in the world and is the top-ranked player in the Peruvian PIF ATP rankings. He mainly competes on the ATP Challenger Tour, where he won two titles this year. His goal for 2025 is to finish in the top 150 – and he’s on track to achieve that goal at a fantastic pace.
As a teenager, Booth ranked among the top 10 juniors before facing the crucial decision of playing college tennis or turning pro in 2022. After struggling to obtain a visa to attend school in the United States, Booth decided to pursue professional tennis, a daunting challenge coming from a country that has had five players in the top 100 in the history of the PIF ATP rankings (since 1973).
“It was like a dream, but it never seemed realistic. I always looked far ahead,” Booth said of a professional tennis career. “Then I wanted to go to university, and when I couldn’t go to university – basically there were accommodation issues – I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to go professional’, and I was 18.”
In 2022, Booth competed in the Challenge for the first time as a teenager and ranked outside the 1,400th place. On his second appearance – a home away from home in Lima – the then-No. 886 Booth met top-seeded Federico Coria, a top-50 player. Despite the loss, Booth took the match to a tiebreaker and ended the night with renewed confidence.
“I started to believe I could do it,” he reflects.
Now living in Barcelona, Spain, Booth considers his father to be his greatest mentor. Booth, who made his Grand Slam debut at this year’s U.S. Open where he lost to sixth seed Ben Shelton, has come a long way. He did all this while adhering to the most important lessons his parents taught him.
Ignacio Booth leaves his mark at Sevilla ✍️#ATPchallenger | @CopaSevillaCh pic.twitter.com/WIwdw9HkV5
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 6, 2025
“First of all, always stay humble,” Booth said. “I also learned that from my dad and mom. I don’t think saying you’re humble means you’re humble. You have to prove it with facts. It has to be natural.
“If you’re more famous in the world, it doesn’t mean you’re above everyone else. That’s the most important thing. That’s why sometimes society gets confused in these areas. I feel like we all have the same importance.”
Booth’s family extended that philosophy beyond tennis. His uncle Gaston Acurio is a world-renowned chef who owns restaurants around the world and has over 1 million followers on Instagram. Booth greatly admired Acurio and his values.
“He wasn’t my idol just because of the way he cooked or anything, but he always wanted to help people,” Booth said. “He set up a foundation in Peru for people who wanted to be a chef with no money. He helped him, set them up, and then they worked in a restaurant around the world.
“To me, what he did was an example of someone who not only cared about the world but cared about humanity.”
Christmas is coming and Buse is looking forward to a family gathering to enjoy Acurio’s delicious dishes.
“It was like an event,” Booth said. “He was an amazing cook. It was always delicious. He made all the recipes, and a lot of his recipes came from his grandmother, and I didn’t meet his grandmother.”
Booth will be able to sit around with his loved ones and look back on his 2025 season with pride.
“If you had told me that I would be where I am today, I would have told you that I wouldn’t believe you. I want to end up in the top 150, more or less,” Booth said. “That’s the goal we set. I think the beginning of the year didn’t go the way we thought it would, but we managed to keep improving and continue to trust the process.”
Ignacio Buse wins in Heilbronn-Bad Rappenau, Germany. ” style=”width:100%” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2025/06/09/13/35/buse-heilbronnch-2025.jpg”>
Ignacio Buse wins the Heilbronn Challenge in June. Photo credit: Elias Hoh Media/NECKARCUP
