Stefanos Tsitsipas sheds light on the meaning behind his cryptic victory message at the Shanghai Masters

Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas kicked off his 2024 Shanghai Masters campaign with a victory over Kei Nishikori on Friday, but it was the message left by the former French Open finalist that left fans and viewers stumped.

The 10th seed recorded a 7-6(6) 6-4 win over his Japanese opponent in their opening round match, showing glimpses of the form that saw him break into the Top 5. Although Nishikori matched the Greek during the first set, the former World No.4 began to show signs of fatigue before Tsitsipas closed out the match in triumphant fashion.

Following his victory, Tsitsipas proceeded to write a few words on the camera as is the norm. However, the Athens native left fans and viewers stumped when he simply wrote the numbers '7784' on the camera lens.

This prompted several fans to ponder on the meaning of his message, as players traditionally sign the camera lens with a short thank you to the fans or a personalized message to a family member. With no resolution in sight, Tsitsipas took to social media to reveal the meaning behind his mysterious message.

"Signing with my Chinese nickname," he posted on Twitter, alongside a photo of him writing on the lens. The 26-year-old added: "(7784 is pronounced “qī-qī-bā-sì” in Mandarin!)".

Tsitsipas has been working with a new coach, Dimitris Chatzinikolau, after parting ways with his father as his coach. The former World No.3 has had a subpar summer, but claims to have set up a new goal; qualification 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."