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Fabio Fognini entered Sunday history by winning the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters and becoming the first Italian to win the ATP Masters 1000 Singles Trophy. Fognini is the eighth player to win his first Masters 1000 title in the last 17 elite events. In the 92 ATP Masters 1000 events prior to Rome 2017, only eight players won their first Masters 1000 title.
The 31-year-old missed an early break in the final against Dusan Lajovic, but he would break the Serb service four times to impose after an hour and 38 minutes. Andrey Rublev led the 13th seed, 6-4, 4-1 in the first round, but Fognini re-entered to complete the best week of his career.
Four of the seven players who have won their first crown at this level since Internazionali 2017, BNL d'Italia, have qualified for the first time in the Nitto ATP final this season.
ATPTour.com looks at the first winners of Masters 1000 …
Alexander Zverev (2017 Rome)
Alexander Zverev had just turned 20 when he reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the BNL of Italia International 2017. But the German looked like a veteran beating Novak Djokovic (6-4, 6-3).
Zverev has become the youngest champion in Rome since the triumph of 19-year-old Rafael Nadal and the youngest Masters 1000 winner since Djokovic, 19, won the Miami Trophy in 2007. He has since won two more titles of the Masters 1000.
"I am very happy with my playing and my performance all week long, and I think today was one of the best games of my life," Zverev said. "I knew I had to be aggressive from first to last point. It was very important for me to stay aggressive and not let him take control of the match. "
Grigor Dimitrov (2017 Cincinnati)
The young Grigor Dimitrov Masters 1000 has had its best season so far. The Bulgarian, at age 26, beat Australian Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-5 to win the Western & Southern Open.
Dimitrov has not lost all tournaments, becoming the first player to do so and winning his first Masters 1000 trophy since Djokovic in Miami in 2007. Dimitrov, who won 52 of his 53 service matches, was going to win his most big crown so far. at the Nitto ATP final three months later.
Jack Sock (2017 Paris)
In the first round of the Rolex Paris Masters 2017, Kyle Edmund led Jack Sock 5-1 in the third set. But Sock found a way to get out of this hole and move on, and he never looked back. The American beat Filip Krajinovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 in the championship game to win his first Masters 1000 title.
Entering the week, Sock was ranked 24th at ATP Race To London. But this triumph earned him the first time in singles for the Nitto ATP finals and propel him into the Top 10 ATP rankings for the first time.
"There were a lot of firsts," Sock said at the trophy ceremony. "It started at Roland Garros with my first fourth run of a Slam, now I won my first Masters 1000 in Paris, this will be my first time in the Top 10 and it will be the first time in end of the year [Nitto ATP] Finals. So, there is a lot going on emotionally and I can not wait to enjoy it with my team. "
Juan Martin del Potro (2018 Indian Wells)
Juan Martin del Potro is the only champion of the singles Grand Slam of this group. But by entering the BNP Paribas Open last year, Argentina had never won a crown in the Masters 1000. Three times before – in Montreal in 2009 (in Murray), in 2013 in Indian Wells (in Nadal) and in 2013 in Shanghai (in Djokovic) – Del Potro lost a victory.
Roger Federer, who was 17-0 this year, had three points in the championship to prevent the 'Tower of Tandil' from changing that in the final. But nothing could stop Del Potro, who played bravely tennis to stun Federer 6-4, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (2) in one of the best games of the 2018 season of the season. ATP Tour.
John Isner (2018 Miami)
John Isner has arrived at the Miami Open 2018 presented by Itau with a 2-6 record for the season, hoping to get in shape. He did more than that in South Beach, rallying Alexandre Zverev 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4 for the title. The American, who was 32 years old and 11 months old at the time, became the oldest first Masters 1000 Series History Champion (since 1990).
The fourth time was the charm of Isner, who finished second at the Indian Wells (2012) (at Federer), at 2013 Cincinnati (at Nadal) and at 2016 Paris (at Murray). Isner used this victory as a springboard to qualify for the first time for the Nitto ATP final.
Karen Khachanov (2018 Paris)
Djokovic competed in the 2018 Rolex Paris Masters final on a 22-game winning streak, about to reach Nadal's record with 33 ATP Masters 1000 trophies. But Karen Khachanov of Russia won the biggest title of his career, shocking the Serbs 7-5, 6-4 for his first moment, Masters 1000.
Khachanov's triumph is the last of four consecutive victories against the top 10 ATP players (Isner, Zverev, Thiem and Djokovic).
Dominic Thiem (2019 Indian Wells)
It is not surprising that Thiem won a Masters 1000 tournament. But it is safe to say that no one expected Austria's first moment to come on hard ground. In fact, he had never passed the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open.
But the 25-year-old made a great performance by defeating Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the final, only deserving of his second Top 5 victory on hard courts. Thiem's efforts helped him to reach the top of his career in 4th place in the ATP rankings. He was also the first winner of the Austrian Masters 1000 since Thomas Muster in 1997.
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