Stefanos Tsitsipas has invited Margot Robbie to watch him at the Australian Open after charging through to the semi-finals in Melbourne.
The Greek tennis star says he is a huge fan of the Australian actor and would love her to support him from the Melbourne Park stands.
His surprise shout-out to Robbie came after Tsitsipas scored a 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 win against unseeded Czech Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Tsitsipas was partway through explaining his impressive display to on-court interviewer Jim Courier, detailing how it took "experience and some good Spartan attitude" to get the better of Lehecka, when he mentioned the 32-year-old Hollywood star.
Robbie, married to English film producer Tom Ackerley, became well known in Australia and the UK for her role in the soap opera Neighbours before turning to Hollywood.
Her career includes prominent roles in movies including The Wolf of Wall Street, Suicide Squad and I, Tonya, as well as being the voice of Flopsy Rabbit in the Peter Rabbit film series.
"Can you hear them? Australia is such a great country," Tsitsipas said, reacting to roars from the crowd.
"I like a lot of great Aussie things. One of my favourite actresses comes from Australia, Margot Robbie."
Former Australian Open champion Courier, surprised by that unprompted mention, said: "Are you pitching right now?"
That prompted Tsitsipas to say: "It would be nice to see her over there one day."
Was that an invitation to Robbie?
"Absolutely," Tsitsipas said.
The 24-year-old Greek player soon stressed that his Robbie fandom was not the main reason for him enjoying Australia.
"That's not it," Tsitsipas said. "The people are very welcoming. I've said that so many times and will keep saying it because it's true.
"I grew up in a place that's very similar in terms of conditions and lifestyle and find myself feeling home when I'm here because it's not too tropical, and it's not too humid, and it very much feels like home.
"The French players have Roland Garros as their home grand slam, the British players have Wimbledon, the Americans have the US Open; for me, the Australian Open is always going to be my home grand slam.
"I would love one day hopefully winning the Aussie Open and giving a bit portion of the prize-money to build a school in Victoria which is the state of education. I'd like to do that."
Wawrinka reflects on 'tough year' after reaching ATP 1000 hard-court milestone
Stan Wawrinka reflected on a "really tough year" after racking up a new ATP 1000 milestone with his first-round victory over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the Shanghai Masters.
The three-time grand slam champion secured a 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (8-6) victory in China in what was the first ATP meeting between the two.
According to Opta Ace, it represented Wawrinka's landmark 100th hard-court victory in ATP 1000 events, becoming the 12th player to do so.
Speaking on court after the victory, the veteran 39-year-old said: "It's been a really tough year so far, but I'm not getting younger so I'm trying to keep pushing myself.
"I'm happy with the match. I think it was a really good level. I was playing really good, one of the best matches of the year for me.
"He's such an aggressive player. It was great to be here, so much support here, so I'm enjoying my time in China."
Wawrinka, who only had five ATP wins this year before featuring in Shanghai, next faces Flavio Cobolli in round two.
Gauff rallies back against Starodubtseva to reach China Open semi-final
Coco Gauff came from behind to defeat Yuliia Starodubtseva and reach the semi-finals of the China Open.
Gauff was no match for the qualifier in the first set of Thursday's tie, but the American rallied back to win 2-6 6-2 6-2.
The world number six will face Paula Badosa, the 15th seed, on Saturday.
She is vying for a place in her first final since she triumphed in Auckland in January, and her first at a WTA 1000 event since she won the Cincinnati Open in 2023.
Data Debrief: Comeback queen
Including retirements, Gauff (two) has achieved multiple match wins from a set down at a single WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career, and for the first time at a single WTA event overall since last year's US Open.
Since the format's inception in 2009, meanwhile, only Caroline Wozniacki (eight) has reached more WTA 1000 semi-finals than Coco Gauff (seven) before turning 21. World number one Iga Swiatek (five) is the only other player to reach 5+ semi-finals over that span.
Badosa stands between Gauff and the final. She beat home hope Zhang Shuai in the quarters, and became the second Spaniard to reach the semi-finals of the China Open since the inception of the tournament in 2004 after Garbine Muguruza in 2015.
She is the second oldest player to reach the semi-finals of the China Open in their maiden appearance after Amelie Mauresmo in 2006.
Alcaraz lauds 'beast' Sinner after winning China Open classic
Carlos Alcaraz described Jannik Sinner as "a beast" and the world's best player after downing the Italian in Wednesday's remarkable China Open final.
Alcaraz and Sinner battled it out for over three hours in the Beijing showpiece match, with Alcaraz eventually triumphing 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 7-6 (7-3).
The Spaniard took the decisive tie-break with a remarkable run of seven straight points, having lost a tie-break in the opening set to fall behind.
At the age of 21 years and 150 days, Alcaraz is the youngest player to defeat the world number one in an ATP event final after losing the opening set since Juan Martin del Potro (20 years, 356 days), who came back to beat Roger Federer at the US Open in 2009.
Speaking after his sixth career win over the Italian (four defeats), Alcaraz outlined his belief he had overcome the very best in the sport.
"He could have won in two, I could have won in two, he could have won in three. It was a really close match," said Alcaraz.
"Jannik, once again, he showed that he's the best player in the world, at least for me.
"The level that he's playing, it's unbelievable. It's a really high quality of tennis. His shots, physically, mentally... he's a beast."
Sinner breezed into a 3-0 lead in the third-set tie-break, only for Alcaraz to show extraordinary resilience to maintain his 100% record against Sinner this year, having previously beaten him at Indian Wells and Roland Garros.
"I never lost hope. Honestly I knew that every tie-break Jannik plays is almost on his side," Alcaraz said of the decider.
"I thought that in the third set, I'm not going to lie down after two mini-breaks for him. I thought, 'okay, I have to give everything that I have just to try to give myself the opportunity to be close'.
"During the whole week I've been playing great tennis. Probably sometimes the luck went to my side a little bit in the matches."
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