Maxime Cressy was playing a match at the age of 14 when his elbow began to bother him. That proved pivotal in his career.
“I chose to serve and volley rather than giving up on the match,” Cressy told ATPTour.com. “It was the first time I experienced [the feeling of] putting volleys away and I loved it, so I decided that was the game plan I wanted to use for the rest of my life.”
On Tuesday, a decade later, Cressy was down two sets in his first-round US Open match against two-time semi-finalist Pablo Carreno Busta. But instead of panicking, the American continued attacking the Spaniard with his high-flying serve-and-volley game on Court 4. After saving four match points and winning in five sets, Cressy had the crowd on its feet roaring.
The 24-year-old’s former college coach at UCLA, Billy Martin, was watching from afar with plenty of joy.
“It just showed me how much he has matured mentally since he left here at UCLA. He’s always been a very physical player, in great shape, and strong. It wasn’t surprising to see him be able to go five sets with a great player like that,” Martin told ATPTour.com. “But the mental strength and concentration and being able to do it at a venue like the US Open was very, very impressive. I’m really proud of him.”
It was an incredible win for a player who did not crack UCLA’s singles lineup his freshman year. During the 2015-16 season, Cressy only played singles once in a dual match — a match against another school — for the Bruins.
“I know it irritated him to no end. But I thought I was being fair to the other players and unfortunately that meant Max wasn’t playing in our singles lineup,” Martin said. “That didn’t deter him from working hard and making his mind up that he was going to make our lineup the next year and eventually play No. 1 for us. He always told me that.”
If Cressy is one thing, it is determined. That has been the case from a young age. Born in Paris, he trained under the guidance of the French Tennis Federation. But he did his senior year of high school in California at the Weil Academy before enrolling in UCLA.
“He left the French Federation because of their determination to try to make him a groundstroker and not play the serve-and-volley tennis that he enjoyed playing, which he does quite well,” Martin recalled.
Cressy was going to make his style work. But he was not only focussed with his serve-and-volley game. That relentless attitude has shown itself throughout the American’s life, even in academics according to Martin.
“It wasn’t just in his tennis. Max was probably one of the top five best students I’ve ever had at UCLA. If he wasn’t training, he was studying in the library. He would be doing his schoolwork,” Martin said. “When I was recruiting him, the French have a Baccalaureat, the tests they have to take to officially graduate high school. He didn’t have to take the hardest, most difficult level to be eligible to come to UCLA. But his brother had taken it, and he was determined to pass it as his brother did and get better scores. He is that much of a competitor in anything he does.”
Cressy is fearless on and off the court. He says that stems from his childhood, when he often competed with older brothers Jonathan and Mathieu.
“It came from growing up and being the last one in the family, having two big brothers and being competitive with them,” Cressy said. “I can’t lose against my much older brothers.”
The 6’6” right-hander’s hunger made being left out of the singles lineup at UCLA his freshman year that much more painful. During practice, he would get upset and down on himself, something he “certainly was not trying to hide from us coaches or his teammates”, Martin remembered.
“I don’t think he ever totally accepted it. I think he always felt that way, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think he was just a good enough teammate and player and respected my choice enough not to make too big of a deal about it.
“But I think it fueled the fire for him and made him that much more determined to keep improving and working hard to somewhat prove me wrong, show Mackie [Mackenzie McDonald], whoever it might have been, that he was actually as good, if not a better player than them, at least potentially.”
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Cressy was roommates for a year with teammate Mackenzie McDonald, who like him remains alive in this US Open. Their volunteer assistant coach that year, Marcos Giron, also reached the second round at Flushing Meadows.
But as Martin said, Cressy had to harness his determination. Today he does that by reading notes in a journal during changeovers.
“These notes are a way for me to stay in the present moment and focus on myself,” Cressy said. “It is a way for me to calm myself down in these exciting and emotional times during the match.”
When Cressy is in full flight, his game is something the sport has not often seen since the days of Pete Sampras. Behind a booming serve and confidence at the net — even under duress — Cressy can take the racquet out of his opponent’s hands.
“I still think if Max ever decided to play doubles on the pro tour, there’s no doubt in my mind he would be Top 10 in the world in doubles,” Martin said. “In my almost 40 years here at UCLA, I have not had a better doubles player than Max. “
That is a bold statement considering Martin has been at the university when the likes of Mark Knowles and Jean-Julien Rojer have played at UCLA.
It has been a long journey with plenty of bumps along the road. But even though Cressy has not yet cracked the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings — reaching a career-high World No. 149 in July — the American has proven he can compete with the world’s best. Cressy will play Nikoloz Basilashvili on Thursday to reach the third round at a major for the first time.
Not bad for someone who once didn’t crack his college singles lineup.
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