Tsitsipas reaches 400 wins where it all began, ousts Darderi in Shanghai

Nine years after recording his first tour-level victory in Shanghai, Stefanos Tsitsipas returned to the same city to reach a milestone few active players can match. The Greek beat 18th seed Luciano Darderi 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters to claim his 400th tour-level win.

A clean, efficient milestone

There was little drama in the match itself. Tsitsipas broke Darderi in the second game, broke again in the fifth to take the opening set, and then struck in the seventh game of the second set to close it out, as Corriere dello Sport detailed. He hit 17 forehand winners and saved all three break points he faced, according to Tennis Now.

The win moved the 28-year-old to 33-21 for the season and into the third round in Shanghai for the fifth consecutive time. His first tour-level win came at this event in 2017, against Karen Khachanov.

Ninth active player in the 400 club

According to the ATP, Tsitsipas is now the ninth active men's player and the fifth born after 1990 to reach 400 tour-level wins, alongside Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev. His career record stands at 400-204.

The list of active leaders compiled by Tennis Now puts the milestone in context: Novak Djokovic leads with 1,182 wins, followed by Marin Cilic (610), Stan Wawrinka (589), Gaël Monfils (588) and Zverev (579). Dimitrov (486), Medvedev (461) and Rublev (402) complete the group just ahead of Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas has won 13 tour titles, including the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals, and reached a career-high of No. 3. He is currently ranked No. 43.

Zverev outhits De Minaur to reach first Shanghai semi-final since 2019

Darderi's exit leaves no Italians in Shanghai

The defeat was a blow for Italy. Darderi had arrived in China after reaching the quarter-finals in Tokyo, where he beat Casper Ruud, but he never found a foothold against the Greek's serve and finished the match without a single break-point conversion. "The key, in my opinion, was the serve – he hit a lot of aces and put a lot of first serves in," Darderi told Sky Sport Italia, as reported by Lottomatica Sport.

With his loss, no Italian man remains in the singles draw. Earlier on Saturday, Matteo Arnaldi fell 7-5, 6-4 to 11th seed Taylor Fritz in a match that finished under the roof on Grandstand 2 because of rain. Lorenzo Musetti, Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Berrettini had already gone out on Friday, while Jannik Sinner has ended his season through injury.

Fritz next

Tsitsipas now faces Fritz in the third round. The American, a former Shanghai semi-finalist, is 12th in the Live Race to Turin and needs a strong finish to the season to secure a place at the Nitto ATP Finals. The winner moves into the round of 16.