Maxime Cressy (born May 8, 1997) is a French-American professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 31 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on August 8, 2022. He has been ranked as high as world No. 117 in doubles, achieved on February 27, 2023. Cressy has won one title on the ATP Tour and three singles titles and two doubles titles on the ATP Challenger Tour. Before 2018, he played for his country of birth, France.
College career
On May 25, 2019, he and Keegan Smith won the 2019 NCAA tennis doubles championship at UCLA.[1]
Professional career
2019–20: Grand Slam debut in doubles and singles and first win
Cressy made his Grand Slam main draw debut at the 2020 US Open as a wildcard entrant where he reached the second round after defeating Jozef Kovalík. He lost in the second round to fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.[2]
After qualifying for the main draw at the 2021 US Open, Cressy won a five-set match with a fifth set tiebreak against ninth seed and two-time US Open semifinalist Pablo Carreño Busta, after coming back from two sets to love down to win in a tiebreak, saving four match points in the process.[5][6][7]
Cressy then qualified for the main draw at the 2021 BNP Paribas Open. He defeated Laslo Đere in the first round before falling to 11th seed Diego Schwartzman in 3 sets. Cressy served for the match against Schwartzman in the third set, but could not convert two match points.[8]
He reached the final in the 2021 Challenger Eckental where he lost to German Daniel Masur. As a result he hit a new career-high of world No. 128 on 8 November 2021.
2022: First ATP title, major fourth round, top 35
Cressy started his 2022 season at the first edition of the Melbourne Summer Set 1. Getting past qualifying, he saved two match points in the second round to beat second seed, world No. 26, and compatriot, Reilly Opelka.[9] He defeated Jaume Munar in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals of an ATP tournament for the first time.[10] He then defeated third seed and world No. 28, Grigor Dimitrov, in the semifinals to reach his first ATP Tour final.[11] He lost in the final to top seed and world No. 6, Rafael Nadal.[12] Despite losing in the final, he reached a career-high of world No. 70 on January 17, 2022. At the Sydney Classic, he reached the quarterfinals where he fell to third seed, world No. 26, and 2017 finalist, Dan Evans.[13] Cressy qualified for direct entry at the Australian Open after the withdrawal of Dominic Thiem. He defeated the 22nd seed, fellow American John Isner in five sets with three tiebreaks in the first round for his second win at this Grand Slam.[14][15] Cressy advanced to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career after defeating qualifier Tomáš Macháč in four sets.[16] He then beat Australian wildcard Christopher O'Connell to progress to the fourth round for the first time at any Major. As a result he made his top 60 debut in the rankings at world No. 59 on January 31, 2022. Cressy would lose in the fourth round to second seed Daniil Medvedev.[17]
At the 2022 Eastbourne International he reached his second final after defeating leading British player Jack Draper.[18] En route to the final, he defeated World No. 12 and top seed Cameron Norrie.[19] As a result he moved into the top 50 in the singles rankings.
He won his first ATP Tour title at the 2022 Hall of Fame Open in Newport, RI. Seeded fourth, he reached his third final of the season and in his career after defeating second seed John Isner.[23] He would go on to win the title after defeating third seed Alexander Bublik in the final, coming back from a set and a break down.[24] As a result he reached a new career-high of No. 33 on 18 July 2022.[25][26]
2023: Second top-10 win & ATP finals in singles & doubles
Cressy is a big server who plays a predominantly serve-and-volley style in his service games.[29] His second serve is nearly as fast as, and sometimes faster than, his first serve. He has an aggressive return of serve. He has a good forehand and backhand but is most dangerous when he is chipping-and-charging and volleying.[30]
Performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.