One tennis star has a genius solution to help top players when getting bombarded for autographs after matches

• Tennis stars are often mobbed for autographs after they spend hours competing on the court.
• It can become perilous, like when a fan pelted Iga Swiatek with a giant ball at the Australian Open.

Picture this: You're the top-ranked tennis player on the planet, and you've just survived a tricky opening-round match at the first Grand Slam of the year.

You finish your on-court interview and head over to the stands to sign some autographs for a group of lucky fans. Then, when someone in the crowd gets impatient, they pelt you with a tennis ball.

Such was Iga Swiatek's reality at the Australian Open last week. The three-time Grand Slam champion employed some cat-like reflexes to catch the ball at the last second, but she still looked up for the fan responsible for the ill-fated toss and offered them a disapproving wag of her finger.

Lucky for Swiatek and the other tennis superstars who have more than likely found themselves in a similarly perilous position at some point in their careers, one of their counterparts on the tour has come up with a genius solution.

After winning his second-round match in straight sets Wednesday evening, world No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas conducted his on-court interview and promptly fished some materials out of his backpack. He walked over to the stands brimming with fans' outstretched hands and began to dole out pre-signed photographs of himself.

The commentators on the broadcast were impressed.

"Oh, he's come well prepared, look at this!" one announcer said.

"He's got postcards, pre-signed!" the other chimed in.

"I mean that's next level," the first added. "That's good organizational skills."

It's still too soon to tell if other stars will adopt Tsitsipas' strategy, but the Greek great seems to have developed a sure-fire method to avoid the plight of random merchandise flying his way.