Fognini dedicates Brasil Open title to Astori

Fabio Fognini turned his thoughts to Davide Astori, the late Fiorentina captain, after winning his sixth ATP World Tour singles title.

Fabio Fognini dedicated his Brasil Open title to Davide Astori after recovering from a woeful start to beat Nicolas Jarry 1-6 6-1 6-4 on the ATP World Tour.

Fiorentina announced the passing of their captain earlier on Sunday, and the rest of the weekend's Serie A fixtures were subsequently postponed.

Italy's national number one Fognini was in action, however, and he paid his respects to Astori in an on-court interview after a narrow victory in Sao Paulo.

"I dedicate my success in Sao Paulo to Davide Astori," he said. "I did not know him personally but I want to dedicate this victory to him."

The second seed had ended Pablo Cuevas' 15-match winning run in Brazil on Saturday, but he floundered in the first set a day later and Jarry, appearing in his first Tour final, took advantage before looking to kick on.

However, Fognini's restored resolve saw off the Chilean's challenge and a hard-fought victory was belatedly secured after a tight third set.

Jarry had fought back from a set down in his prior three matches, but he did not allow Fognini to gain a foothold early in the final, winning the first 13 points to breeze into a 3-0 lead.

And Jarry continued to take advantage of a shoddy display from the Italian, swiftly wrapping up the first set in an impressive, aggressive showing.

A clearly frustrated Fognini regained some composure at the beginning of the second, though, and broke his opponent's serve for the first time to move 3-0 up, the score going on to mirror the first set at 6-1.

Jarry was broken again and, although he pulled level again at 2-2, Fognini's experience ultimately told as he secured a sixth Tour singles title, his furrowed expression replaced with a smile before his emotions changed again to acknowledge Astori.