By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday August 31, 2021
Former UCLA Bruin Maxime Cressy knocked off last year's semi-finalist in dramatic fashion for his biggest career win.
Photo Source: Getty
Maxime Cressy prides himself on being a dangerous threat with his throwback serve-and-volley game. Today the qualifier, ranked 151, was a lot more than a threat.
On Court 4 on Tuesday, Cressy rallied from two sets and four match points down to stun No.9-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta 5-7, 4-6, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6(7) in three hours and 35 minutes to reach the second round.
The former UCLA graduate, who becomes the first American man to knock off a Top-10 seed at the US Open since Jack Sock in 2016, earns his biggest career win and sets up a second-round clash with Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia.
Sensing that the Spaniard was getting tight, Cressy lifted his game in sets three, four and five and did not face a break point.
"My main thought I kept telling myself was on really holding my serve efficiently," Cressy told reporters after the victory. "One of my good qualities, I'm not really scared of my opponent or whoever I'm playing. I was just focused on me and holding serve. That gave me some confidence. I was able to really loosen up and make some great shots to break him. No, my main thought was to just focus on holding my serve efficiently throughout the rest of the match and it worked."
Cressy served-and-volleyed 70 times during the match and won 46 of those points, but he saved his best work for late in the final set tiebreaker, when he rallied from 5-2 and 6-3 down in the breaker, saving a total of four match points to notch the upset.
More to follow…