Six new faces raise trophies for start of 2019

The 2019 season hasn't been very long—less than two months—and yet, the ATP has seen six first-time champions. Here's a look at the men who recently checked "ATP champion" off their goals list.

1

Alex de Minaur

The first new winner of the year was 19-year-old De Minaur. He did it front of his home crowd in Sydney as the No. 5 seed and without losing a set. At No. 26, the Aussie is one of the fastest-rising teenagers in the game.

2

Tennys Sandgren

The 27-year-old Sandgren lifted the hardware in Auckland, and, like Demaur, he also didn't drop a set along the way. Australia suits the American, as Melbourne was the site of his Grand Slam breakthrough in 2018.

3

Juan Ignacio Londero

Londero may be the least known player on this list. The 25-year-old stunned the world by making a run to the Cordoba title while ranked No. 112. The milestone was made even more special by being in front of a home Argentinian crowd.

4

Reilly Opelka

In New York, Opelka served his way to the title, beating fellow giant John Isner along the way. Eight of the 14 sets he played went to tiebreaks. The 21-year-old's ranking was boosted up to No. 56 after the memorable week.

5

Laslo Djere

Djere had a story to tell and got to share it in Rio when he won the ATP 500 crown. He had never played a final before, and had to subdue 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final. Djere was the one responsible for stunning top seed Dominic Thiem in the first round. The 23-year-old Serbian is now up to No. 37.

6

Radu Albot

In Delray Beach last week, the 29-year-old Ablot became the first ATP champion from his small country of Moldova. Ranked No. 82, he took out Ivo Karlovic, Nick Kyrgios, Steve Johnson and surprise semifinalist Mackenzie McDonald. In the final, he saved three match points against Dan Evans to win a third-set tiebreaker.

There's 10 long months to go in the 2019 season so there's plenty of time for more new faces to make their way to the winner's podium.

ATP/WTA Acapulco

• Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, Juan Martin del Potro and Sloane Stephens headline the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. Watch live coverage on Tennis Channel Plus beginning Monday, 2/25 at 5:00 pm ET.

ATP Dubai

• Watch Roger Federer, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic and Karen Khachanov live from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship starting Monday, 2/25 at 5:00 am ET

ATP Sao Paulo

• Tennis Channel Plus features live coverage of the Brasil Open beginning Monday, 2/25 at 10:30 am ET