Maxime Cressy

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 8 August 2022. He has been ranked as high as world No. 64 in doubles, achieved on 8 May 2023. Cressy has won one title on the ATP Tour and four singles titles and two doubles titles on the ATP Challenger Tour. Before 2018, he played for his country of birth, France.

Early life and Juniors

Maxime Cressy was born the youngest of three boys 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 the team win two NCAA championships. He has two brothers.

From 2009 to 2013, he trained at the in Saint-Raphaël, on the French Riviera, one of the most prominent training centers for tennis players in France. In 2014, he moved to the United States, where he joined a Californian academy. He did school at home at the French National Centre for Distance Education (CNED), where he had a French ''Baccalauréat''.

He made his debut in 2016 and won the Tallahassee Futures in December 2018. The following week he began representing the United States.

College career

On May 25, 2019, he and Keegan Smith won the 2019 NCAA tennis doubles championship at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Professional career

2019–2020: 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.

2021: Top 150 debut

He qualified for the 2021 Australian Open and reached the second round by defeating Taro Daniel. However, he lost in the second round to sixth seed Alexander Zverev.

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.

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.
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. He defeated Jaume Munar in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals of an ATP tournament for the first time. He then defeated third seed and world No. 28, Grigor Dimitrov, in the semifinals to reach his first ATP Tour final. He lost in the final to top seed and world No. 6, Rafael Nadal. 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. 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. 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. 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.

Seeded sixth at the first edition of the Dallas Open, Cressy lost in the first round to qualifier Jurij Rodionov. Seeded eighth at the Delray Beach Open, he was defeated in the first round by John Millman in three tiebreaker sets. In March, he competed at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. He was beaten in the first round by qualifier and compatriot, Christopher Eubanks.

At the 2022 Eastbourne International he reached his second final after defeating leading British player Jack Draper. En route to the final, he defeated World No. 12 and top seed Cameron Norrie. As a result he moved into the top 50 in the singles rankings.

On his debut at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, he defeated World No. 9 and sixth seed Félix Auger-Aliassime for his first top-10 win.

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. 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. As a result he reached a new career-high of No. 33 on 18 July 2022.

2023-2025: ATP 500 title & top 70 in doubles, 200 positions drop in singles

Cressy started his season at the Adelaide International 1. He lost in the first round to Australian wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis. At the 2023 Australian Open, he was defeated in the second round by ninth seed and world No. 10 Holger Rune.

In February, Cressy played at the 2023 Open Sud de France. He defeated seventh seed Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round. In the quarterfinals, he defeated third seed and world No. 23 Borna Ćorić. In the semifinals, he upset top seed and world No. 9 Holger Rune to reach his fourth ATP singles final. He lost in the final to second seed and world No. 17 Jannik Sinner. In doubles, he and his partner Albano Olivetti made it to the final; however, they lost to Robin Haase and Matwé Middelkoop. In Rotterdam, he was defeated in the second round by world No. 25 Alex de Minaur. Seeded fifth at the 2023 Open 13 Provence, he lost in the second round to eventual finalist Benjamin Bonzi. At the 2023 Dubai Championships, he fell in his first-round match to fourth seed and world No. 9 Félix Auger-Aliassime in three sets. In doubles, he won his first ATP doubles title and first on the 500-level with Fabrice Martin, defeating third seeds Harri Heliövaara and Lloyd Glasspool. As a result, his doubles ranking moved 45 positions up into the top 75. Seeded 32nd at the 2023 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, he lost in the second round to qualifier Alejandro Tabilo. Seeded 30th in Miami, he was defeated in the second round by Dušan Lajović.

Cressy started his clay court season at the 2023 Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakesh. Seeded fifth, he lost in the first round to eventual champion Roberto Carballés Baena in three sets. Seeded fifth in doubles with Albano Olivetti, they reached the semifinals where they lost to third seeds Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler. In Monte-Carlo, he was beaten in the first round by world No. 22 Matteo Berrettini. In Madrid, he pushed 2013 finalist and three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka in the first round to three sets, but ended up losing the match. At the 2023 Italian Open, he lost in the first round to Guido Pella.

Cressy started his grass court season at the 2023 Libéma Open. Seeded eighth, he lost in the first round to Marc-Andrea Hüsler. 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.
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 eventual finalist Alex Michelsen.
In September 2023, Cressy won the 2023 Open de Rennes, his first title on the ATP Challenger Tour in two years, defeating Benjamin Bonzi in the final.
He dropped out of the top 180 at world No. 186 on 1 July 2024. At Wimbledon he reached the third qualifying round but lost to Felipe Meligeni Alves in five sets.

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.
At the 2024 US Open he lost to Jan Choinski in the last round of qualifying on three sets with a supertiebreak in the third, having three match points.
Having been unable to defend his ranking points from the previous year title at the Rennes Challenger, he dropped out of the top 200 on 16 September 2024 and out of the top 300 on 17 February 2025.

Playing style

Cressy is a big server who plays a predominantly serve-and-volley style in his service games. 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.

Performance timelines

Singles

''Current through the 2024 Mubadala Citi DC Open.''

Doubles

ATP career finals

Singles: 4 (1 title, 3 runners-up)

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 12 (6–6)

Doubles: 15 (13–2)

Wins over top 10 players

Cressy has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cressy, Maxime
1997 births
Living people
American male tennis players
French emigrants to the United States
Tennis players from Paris
Sportspeople from Hermosa Beach, California
UCLA Bruins men's tennis players
French male tennis players
21st-century American sportsmen
21st-century French sportsmen