Tsitsipas Earns 400th Win to Reach Shanghai Third Round

Stefanos Tsitsipas just hit 400. The Greek beat 18th seed Luciano Darderi 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the Shanghai Masters third round, and it was the 400th tour-level win of his career, per the ATP Tour.

The city makes it even better. Tsitsipas got his first tour-level win in Shanghai back in 2017, beating Karen Khachanov in the first round. Nine years later he is back in the same building, picking up number 400 and a date with a seeded American.

The 400 club

At 28, Tsitsipas is just the ninth active men's player to reach 400 wins and only the fifth born since 1990, joining Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, per the ATP. His career record now sits at 400-204.

The résumé behind that number is real. He has won 13 tour-level titles, including the 2019 ATP Finals, and climbed as high as No. 3 in the world. He and Rublev now sit together at 400 on the ATP's list of active win leaders.

Is the old Tsitsipas back?

The ranking says he has slid, but the recent form says something else. Tsitsipas came into Shanghai as world No. 43 and is up to No. 38 in the live rankings, per Tennis Temple. He has won 10 of his last 12 matches.

This is also his third trip to the third round of a Masters 1000 event this year, per the ATP. Against Darderi, the world No. 21, he never let the match get loose and closed it in straight sets. That is the kind of clean, controlled win that used to be automatic for him.

He was not the only big name grinding through Saturday. Medvedev came back from a set down against Jan-Lennard Struff, Felix Auger-Aliassime survived Camilo Ugo Carabelli in three, and Carlos Alcaraz cruised past Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 6-3, per Perfect Tennis.

Fritz is waiting

Next up is 11th seed Taylor Fritz, a former Shanghai semifinalist. Fritz beat Matteo Arnaldi 7-5, 6-4 in a match that finished under the roof on Grandstand 2 because of rain, per the ATP.

Fritz has extra motivation too. He is 12th in the Race to Turin and needs a big finish to lock up a spot at the ATP Finals. Tsitsipas, meanwhile, is playing like a guy who wants back into that conversation.

Win 400 is a nice number to frame. Win 401 against Fritz would actually change how people talk about his fall. That is the one to watch.