Stefanos Tsitsipas has provided clarity on the seemingly random four-digit number he wrote on a camera lens after winning his opening Shanghai Masters match against Kei Nishikori on Friday.
Tsitsipas ground out the first set via a tiebreak and kicked on in the second, beating Nishikori 7-6 6-4 to set up a second-round showdown with Alexandre Muller. After the match, the Greek signed a nearby camera lens and wrote the numbers ‘7784’.
With no immediate indication as to what the number meant, it was not until Tsitsipas took to social media that fans were given full clarification.
“Signing with my Chinese nickname,” he posted on X, alongside a photo of him writing on the lens. The 26-year-old added: “(7784 is pronounced “qī-qī-bā-sì” in Mandarin!)”
Tsitsipas will hope that the good relationship he enjoys with fans in Shanghai can propel him to a positive result and put a woeful spell of form behind him. In beating Nishikori, the two-time Grand Slam finalist avenged his defeat to the Japanese in the first round of the Canadian Open in August.
That was to be the first in a sequence of poor showings, which continued with a second-round loss to Jack Draper at his very next tournament, the Cincinnati Masters.
Tsitsipas did not make it past the first round of the US Open, where he crashed out in four sets against Thanasi Kokkinakis. And he once again fell at the first hurdle at the Japan Open last week, giving him extra time to prepare for his trip to Shanghai.
Before the action got underway in China, Tsitsipas spoke about the love he receives from local supporters. “I have received many chopsticks, some little fluffy panda toys, and a few other souvenirs that you would expect being in this part of the world,” he said.
“Fans here love me. They have embraced me over the years, I don’t know what it is about me that they like so much. I do feel privileged and lucky.”
Tsitsipas has been working with a new coach, Dimitris Chatzinikolau, in an effort to turn results around. And he has his heart set on surging up the world rankings to qualify for the ATP Finals in November.
“There is a lot of tennis to be played still,” he said. “It all needs to come at the right time. I won’t deny it, I might slip out of the ATP Finals in Turin, but my goal right now is trying to bounce back. There has been a little bit of an absence in terms of performance from my side and I want to recalibrate those great tennis moments I’ve had before and bring them back over the next few weeks.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk