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 ATP, achieved on August 8, 2022. He has been ranked as high as world No. 64 in doubles, achieved on May 8, 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.
Maxime Cressy was born in Paris to a French father, Gérard, and an American mother, Leslie. She is a former university volleyball player at the University of Southern California and helped team win two NCAA championships.[1] He has two brothers.[1]
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.[4]
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.[7][8][9]
Cressy then qualified for the main draw at the 2021 BNP Paribas Open. He defeated Laslo Djere 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.[10]
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.
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.[11] He defeated Jaume Munar in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals of an ATP tournament for the first time.[12] He then defeated third seed and world No. 28, Grigor Dimitrov, in the semifinals to reach his first ATP Tour final.[13] He lost in the final to top seed and world No. 6, Rafael Nadal.[14] 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.[15] Cressy qualified for direct entry at the Australian Open after the withdrawal of Dominic Thiem. He defeated 22nd seed, world No. 25, and compatriot, John Isner, in five sets with three tiebreaks in the first round for his second win at this Grand Slam.[16][17] He advanced to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career after defeating qualifier, Tomáš Macháč, in the second round in four sets.[18] He then beat Australian wildcard, Christopher O'Connell, in the third round 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, last year finalist, and eventual finalist, Daniil Medvedev.[19]
At the 2022 Eastbourne International he reached his second final after defeating leading British player Jack Draper.[23] En route to the final, he defeated World No. 12 and top seed Cameron Norrie.[24] 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, Rhode Island. Seeded fourth, he reached his third final of the season and in his career after defeating second seed John Isner.[28] 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.[29] As a result he reached a new career-high of No. 33 on 18 July 2022.[30][31]
2023-2024: ATP final, first ATP title & top 70 in doubles, out of top 150 in singles
Cressy started his grass court season at the 2023 Libéma Open. Seeded eighth, he lost in the first round to Marc-Andrea Hüsler.[51] In Queens, he lost in the first round to second seed and world No. 6 Holger Rune in straight sets despite leading 5-2 in the first set.[52]
He lost also in the first round at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships to Laslo Djere in four sets with four tiebreaks. As a result of poor form and multiple first round losses, he dropped out of the top 100 in singles on 17 July 2024. At the 2023 Hall of Fame Open where he was the defending champion, Cressy was defeated by Alex Michelsen.[53]
He dropped out of the top 180 on 1 July 2024 at world No. 186.
Ranked No. 180, at the 2024 Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island, he recorded his first ATP win over Radu Albot, in a year since July 2023, in Atlanta. He also qualified for the main draw of the Citi Open in Washington, defeating two Australians Tristan Schoolkate and Marc Polmans.
Cressy is a big server who plays a predominantly serve-and-volley style in his service games.[55] 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.[56]
(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.