SAO PAULO, March 5, 2018
Fabio Fognini comes back from a set down to beat Nicolas Jarry of Chile 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 to win the Brasil Open in Sao Paulo and earns his sixth ATP World Tour title. It is his first trophy since 2017 Gstaad.
In Sunday’s final, Fognini converted four of his eight break point chances to prevail after one hour and 33 minutes. It was is the Italian’s 14th match win of 2018 (14-4). Fognini did not earn his 14th win of 2017 until the Internazionali BNL D’Italia in May.
This was the 30-year-old’s first week inside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings since February 2015. He rises one spot to World No. 19.
.@fabiofogna is champion in Sao Paulo!
Fights past an exuberant Jarry 1-6 6-1 6-4.#BrasilOpen2018 pic.twitter.com/k92WIS0sDq
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 4. März 2018
“This is a great start to the season and very similar to 2014 (started 17-4). I worked hard in the off-season and it’s nice to be playing well. I will continue to work and there’re two big tournaments coming up now in Indian Wells and Miami,” Fognini told.
“I’m happy because I played good tennis. Everyone who works with me and my family knows how difficult it is to win a title. I lost much more finals than I won. So I have to enjoy it, because it’s part of the sport, I have to keep working.”
Jarry leaves Sao Paulo after reaching his maiden ATP World Tour final. He climbs to a career- best No. 61 in the ATP Rankings. The 22-year-old Chilean falls just short of becoming the first player from his country to hoist a tour-level trophy since Fernando Gonzalez at 2009 Vina del Mar.
“I always work to reach higher and higher, to be the best version of myself. Now I am getting good results. I hope to keep going up. I think I can give more, much more. I made some mistakes during the tournament, but moving forward, I’ll try to minimise this and try to win my first ATP [World Tour] title,” Jarry said.
Delbonis/Gonzalez Triumph
Federico Delbonis and Maximo Gonzalez defeat recent New York Open finalists Wesley Koolhof and Artem Sitak 6-4, 6-2 to claim their first ATP World Tour title as a team. The encounter lasted one hour and 12 minutes.
It is Delbonis’ first doubles trophy and Gonzalez’s fourth. Prior to the week, the Argentines were 1-2 as a team.
“I want to enjoy this title a bit. It’s always special to win a title. Now, I have a little more confidence for the next tournament and the next month,” Delbonis said.
“Today we had the best match of the week. I’m happy to be with Federico, he’s a good friend of mine,” Gonzalez added.
