Fabio Fognini and Nicolas Jarry will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they battle for the Brasil Open title on Sunday afternoon.
This is, of course, Jarry’s first-ever appearance in an ATP final. In fact, the 22-year-old had won just six career ATP-level matches prior to the start of February. Since Feb. 1, he has an incredible 11 ATP-level victories–pushing his lifetime total to 17. In addition to winning a pair of Davis Cup rubbers for Chile, Jarry advanced to the Quito quarterfinals and the Rio de Janeiro semifinals. He has continued the one-step-further trend this week in Sao Paulo, booking a spot in the championship match thanks to defeats of Dusan Lajovic, Guido Pella, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and Horacio Zeballos.
The scorelines make Jarry’s run to the final all the more incredible. He beat Lajovic 7-5 in the third, Pella 7-6 in the third, Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 in the third, and Zeballos 6-4 in the third.
“It was another amazing day,” Jarry said after outlasting Zeballos. “When I lost the first set, I was thinking if I could come back again once more. I had more confidence as the match went on and moved better to break him. Once I did it, it was just a matter of serving well and going point-by-point. The things went my way. It’s been a heck of a ride.”
Fognini has endured no such drama. The Italian earned an opening bye as the No. 2 seed before thrashing Joao Domingues, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and three-time defending champion Pablo Cuevas all in straight sets. Fognini is now an outstanding 13-4 for the season, with semifinal showings in Sydney and Rio de Janeiro plus a fourth-round performance at the Australian Open.
“Today was my best match this week by far,” the world No. 20 said of his 6-4, 6-2 demolition of Cuevas. “I’m really happy about my game and how I feel on court. I’m in the final now and will try to win the title. I’m feeling really good and while it’s only the beginning of the year. I’m happy and confident with my team. I have a special feeling in Brazil and hopefully they will continue to support me in the final.”
Fognini is contesting his 15th career ATP final and seeking his sixth title. He has a massive advantage in terms of experience and time spent on court this week (three and a half hours to eight hours and 10 minutes), so the trophy should be his–but Jarry’s serve (35 aces in his last two matches) won’t make it easy.
Pick: Fognini in 3
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Fog in three ,
Assuming he gets out of bed on right side.
Last week he really looked not to be trying..
Jarry in three
Jarry is a breath of fresh air on clay, deserves a title
Jarry is going to win this without a doubt, in 2 or 3 I don’t know, but I know he will win. Mark my words on that.
EnjoyLife, I also believe that Jarry can upset the super fav Fognini. Jarry just needs to play focused and motivated with aggression (which is his trade mark) and he can win in 3 sets or even in 2 tight sets if fog is errorsome (as Fog is a fighter with power and experience to counter Jarry’s youthful power)!
EnjoyLife, you will really enjoy life if jarry wins tomorrow as his odds (+195) are attractive also!
EnjoyLife, on deeper thought i feel that Jarry cannot win the finale as he has played 8 matches nearly back to back, 4 matches @Rio de – Clay and 4 matches @Sao Paulo – Clay. The tiredness of playing 8 matches in 2 weeks inclusive of 12 tight sets from 4 matches here @Sao Paulo – Clay will tire out any human being be it an youngster or an old man.
Fognini on the other hand played only 3 matches of 2 easy sets each. @Sao Paolo. In total Fog played 6 sets less besides being on the court by approximately 3 hours and 40 minutes less. Therefore Fog is well rested. With fresh legs and advantage of tons of experience, Fog should win the Sao Paulo – Clay title today. Jarry will definitely put up a solid fight as the title and big money is on the line. Everything is said and done, fog will be the Champion here today. I am going to be practical and go with Fognini ML. ov22.5 -110 may or may not hit. I will do further research before doing anything.
Similarly, I should have been practical yesterday and faded Pouille knowing that he was tired playing back-2-back tournaments with many matches especially 3 or 4 3 setters lately. I wrongly and strongly believed that Pouille being French tough will gut through another tough 3 setter and win. So, I bet on the over and +1.5 sets Pouille and lost. I could not be more wrong. I won’t make the same mistake with Jarry.
So, maybe will go big on Fognini ML and small on the over (as Jarry will definitely fight until his last breath…as he has a CHILLY/CHILE in him!lol) as Fog can defeat a tired Jarry in 2 sets like he defeated Cuevas and others.
I am just worried about the mental issues of Fog. If he is losing ( a set or so) and his opponent fights hard then sometimes Fog just throws in the towel after throwing in some tantrums!lol Will fog fight through all adversities even if a set down and go for a win? That’s my worry.
As far as I am concerned, the experience will win. Fognini in straight sets…
Love Jarry….but Fog in straight!
Fognini will get frustrated and would rather clown himself, than make it look like he is tryharding against a tall server, who makes alot of free points on serve to annoy Fognini there from the start, but the way he keeps rallies short, and his with high pace and goes for the lines and winners very often, is the perfect playstyle to use against Fognini when it works, because Fognini hates fighting against a player like this, because he is not able to do the same, while he feels he is just as talented, he just don’t have the height for it. And this will make Fognini walk around unfocused, because he thinks that looks better than him running around from corner to corner, while getting outplayed by extreme fast pace flat strokes from Jarry. My only worries about this match is if Jarry should be tired, as there is no doubt he spend way more energy reaching the finale than Fognini, but he looked so motivated and good yesterday against Zeballos, and he is young, and there’s only 1 match left, which I believe he will come and give his best shot, and if he plays just like the other matches, I feel like Fognini would have to step up his game to stand a chance here.
Quoted from above….
“I am just worried about the mental issues of Fog. If he is losing (a set or so) and his opponent fights hard then sometimes Fog just throws in the towel after throwing in some tantrums!lol Will fog fight through all adversities even if a set down and go for a win? That’s my worry.”
Fog lost the 1st set 1-6 but fought hard to win the 2nd set 6-1 and won the final set 6-4 to win the match and the Sao Paolo Trophy! This shows that Fog is a real fighter (who will never give up even when he is down) and proved his doubters wrong!
Thank You Fog for not having a Foggy mind (a losing mind/mentality) and winning some moolah $$$$$ for all of us! And thanks Jarry for fighting hard till the end (showing that you too are a game fighter) giving us additional moolah $$$$$ on the OVER games!
I said something similar about Fog, but well done to him, and us who had the gut feeling to pick him in three.