Six players on the ATP World Tour earned their first titles in 2015. At the time of their victories, they ranged in age from 21 to 34. Below are stories of the first three winners and how they fared for the rest of the season.

Jiri Vesely – Auckland [Vesely Spotlight] Czech rising star Jiri Vesely began his ascent up the Emirates ATP Rankings in the second week of the 2015 season, capturing his maiden ATP World Tour title with a 6-3, 6-2 rout of Adrian Mannarino in Auckland. Vesely, who peaked at World No. 35 in late April, became the first Czech to win in the New Zealand capital since Jiri Novak in 1996.

“It feels amazing to be part of the ATP champions,” said Vesely. “It’s not something that everyone is [able] to achieve, so I’m very grateful for that. It’s a great start for me… I can really see that it’s possible to play with the best guys and I think that’s something very important for me for the future.”

The qualifier won seven matches in eight days, upsetting 13th-ranked Ernests Gulbis and World No. 16 Kevin Anderson en route to the championship. Vesely would reach a second final on the European clay of Bucharest three months later and equaled his best Grand Slam result in advancing to the third round of the US Open. On the ATP Challenger Tour, the 22 year old successfully defended his crown on home soil in Prostejov.

Victor Estella Burgos – Quito [Estrella Spotlight] At 34 years old, Victor Estrella Burgos became the oldest first-time ATP World Tour titlist in the Open Era with a thrilling 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-6(5) win over top seed Feliciano Lopez at the Ecuador Open Quito. The first player from the Dominican Republic to win a title on the circuit, Estrella Burgos also competed in his first ATP World Tour doubles final, falling with partner Joao Souza to the German team of Gero Kretschmer and Alexander Satschko.

“The truth is that Quito has become a very special city for me,” Estrella Burgos said. “It actually already was, as I’ve won Challengers here. Today has been a very tough day for me where I was a set up, and later I lost the tie-break. In the third set I was up a break, and I didn’t manage the nerves well.”

The 34 year old would contest his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event since 2008 a month later in Indian Wells, and notched his first match win on the lawns of Wimbledon, rallying past Igor Sijsling in four sets. Four of the six first-time winners in 2015 also emerged victorious on the ATP Challenger Tour, with the Dominican lifting the trophy in Morelos, Mexico. Estrella Burgos cracked the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time with his title run.

Jack Sock – Houston [Sock Spotlight] Rising Americans took charge in 2015, with three teens finishing in the year-end Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings and Jack Sock leading the young gun surge at World No. 26. The 23 year old downed Sam Querrey on the clay of Houston in April for his maiden ATP World Tour crown. The first-time champion notched four-straight defeats of seeded players en route to the title, including second seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round, No. 5 seed Santiago Giraldo in the quarter-finals and third seed Kevin Anderson in the semi-finals.

“It feels incredible,” said Sock. “Clay is my favourite surface. It feels surreal. It feels incredible, and to have friends and family here to share it with me feels even better. I feel I competed well and took care of my serve very well. On this surface against these players and the tough field that it was, to only get broken a handful of times is not easy.”

A torn muscle in his pelvis forced Sock to sit out the start of 2015 and the American did not miss a step in his return in early March. An ATP World Tour Masters 1000 doubles crown in Indian Wells, alongside Vasek Pospisil, was followed by his maiden singles triumph in Houston, becoming the seventh player born in the 1990s to win on the circuit. Sock’s ascent to the Top 30 would culminate with a run to the fourth round at Roland Garros, semi-final finish on the grass of Newport and a final on the indoor hard courts of Stockholm (l. to Berdych).

Coming Thursday: Dominic Thiem, Denis Istomin and Benoit Paire

There’s no getting around it: Rafael Nadal’s numbers were below his customary high standards in 2015. As his Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers stats show (see chart below), the Spaniard’s performance fell nearly across the board. 

But even in a down year — one in which he failed to win a Grand Slam for the first time in more than a decade — the 28-time ATP Masters 1000 titlist still managed to finish inside the Top 10 in several key categories, including first-serve percentage (68%) and second-serve points won (55%). 

Looking at his return game, the Spaniard also posted Top-10 finishes in first-serve points won (33%), second-serve points won (53%) and return games won (31%).

All this kept him inside the Top 5 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the 11^th straight year.

Rafa’s Return of Serve Statistics

Bold = career high, * = ATP World Tour leader

Get more at Infosys ATP Scores & Stats.

Robin Soderling (Retired: 23 December)
For four years, five months and seven days the tennis world waited for news of Robin Soderling’s return. But there was to be no comeback from the severe mononucleosis that deprived him of his tennis prime. The Swede had been unable to play competitively since a 6-2, 6-2 over David Ferrer on 17 July 2011 in the final of the Bastad Swedish Open, which marked his 10th ATP World Tour title. Soderling started to develop a fever and sore throat at Wimbledon in 2011, but rallied to play what was to be his final matches a couple of weeks later in Bastad. He was 26 years old.

Blessed with a powerful game and a heavy serve, the majority of his best results came on hard and indoor courts, yet it was on the clay of Roland Garros in 2009 and 2010 that Soderling proved his mettle with back-to-back final appearances. His four-set fourth-round win in 2009 over the unbeaten Rafael Nadal, ending the Spaniard’s 31-match winning streak at Roland Garros, reverberated around the tennis world. To date, he remains one of only two players (Novak Djokovic, 2015) to beat Nadal on Parisian clay. He beat Roger Federer en route to the 2010 title match.

Soderling also enjoyed success across the French capital in late 2010, when he became the first Swedish player to win an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title since Thomas Enqvist in 1996. It ensured he rose to a career-high No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 15 November 2010. As he battled to regain fitness, Soderling launched a new range of tennis balls under the brand ‘RS-Tennis’ in 2013 and last year he was named the Stockholm Open tournament director. Aged 31, he called time on his playing career.

Jarkko Nieminen (Retired: 21 October)
Jarkko Nieminen, a role model to so many young players on the ATP World Tour, became the standard bearer for Finnish tennis over 16 years as a professional and assured himself of a playing in his nation’s sporting history, alongside the likes of Janne Ahonen, Mika Häkkinen and Sami Hyypiä.

Renowned for his speed, Nieminen was a dangerous foe capable of battling against the very best on every surface, as evidenced by victories over current or former World No. 1s, including Andre Agassi, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Carlos Moya, Marat Safin, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Novak Djokovic. He recorded 405 singles match wins and ranked in the year-end Top 100 since 2001. “I always had faith in myself, but I kept my feet on the ground,” said Nieminen, who was also a member of the ATP Player Council from June 2010 to June 2014.

He rose to a career-high No. 13 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 10 July 2006, shortly after he appeared in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, one of three last eight showings at major championships (also 2005 US Open, 2008 Australian Open). He reached 13 ATP World Tour singles finals, winning titles at 2006 Auckland (d. Ancic) and 2012 Sydney (d. Benneteau) and was also 5-4 in doubles finals.

Ryan Sweeting (Retired: 20 August)
For Ryan Sweeting, a former junior World No. 2 and 2005 US Open champion, his pro career promised much, but the transition from junior to senior tennis is fraught. Aged 23, he won his only ATP World Tour title against Kei Nishikori at Houston in April 2011, and on 12 September that year rose to a career-high No. 64 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Yet the Bahamian-born American was hindered by a back injury that forced him off the ATP World Tour for extensive periods.

Michael Lammer (Retired: 14 March)
Michael Lammer played the final match of his career with Roger Federer, his friend of 25 years, at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells. He rose to a career-high No. 150 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 9 November 2009, the year he captured his only ATP World Tour doubles title (w/Chiudinelli) at Gstaad. He was also part of Switzerland’s Davis Cup winning team in 2014.

Read Part 1: Best of 2015 Player Retirements – Fish, Ginepri, Russell