Stats - Fonseca wins his first title at his 9th ATP tournament
João Fonseca was last week's big story on the ATP circuit.
The 18-year-old Brazilian continued his impressive progress by winning his first title at the ATP 250 tournament in Buenos Aires.
He kept his nerve, beating four Argentinians in five games and saving two match points against Mariano Navone in the quarter-finals.
His performances have enabled him to achieve the highest ranking of his career, currently 68th.
Present in Rio this week, he will be looking to put on a show in front of his home crowd. In the meantime, Fonseca won his first title at his 9th professional tournament since his debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2023, where he was beaten by Alex Molcan (6-0, 6-3) at the age of 16.
He was earlier to claim his first title than Carlos Alcaraz, who was crowned at Umag in 2021 in his 12th tournament.
The same goes for Karen Khachanov, who won his first trophy in Chengdu in 2016, also in his 12th professional tournament.
By way of comparison, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune both had to wait until their 21st appearance in a major ATP draw to triumph (Sofia in 2020 for the Italian and Munich in 2022 for the Dane).
For their part, Andrey Rublev (24 tournaments), Hubert Hurkacz (27), Daniil Medvedev (29), Stefanos Tsitsipas (36) and Alexander Zverev (44) had to be even more patient to become champions on the main circuit among the members of the former "Next Gen".
Taylor Fritz, currently world number 4, won his first ATP trophy at Eastbourne in 2019, in his 71st tournament.
