Maxime Cressy is without doubt one of the distinctive gamers on the ATP Tour. The American serves and volleys each level, for higher or worse.
However the former faculty tennis participant is raring to point out that he’s greater than only a serving powerhouse. Cressy will hope to display that in opposition to former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday on the Mutua Madrid Open.
“I’m beginning to change my return place. Final yr, my return place [was] very shut, even contained in the baseline,” Cressy informed ATPTour.com. “So now I will make actually massive adjustments in my recreation with the imaginative and prescient of attending to my targets. I feel now, the important thing for me is to be constant and getting the balls in play as a lot as I can.
“I feel being deeper off the courtroom goes to be a vital element for me to start out stepping into a number of rallies.”
From Studying Sampras To Facing Djokovic: Cressy’s Serve & Volley Journey
Cressy was clear that he’s sustaining his aggressive mindset and can proceed going to the online each time potential — he writes ‘Instill Doubt’ on his racquet in any case. However after loads of evaluation, he takes a distinct method to his total technique.
“[I am] sticking with my mindset to come back to the online. However earlier than that, I have to have a strong basis on the baseline,” Cressy stated. “And that is what I have been engaged on [and] tirelessly analysed… I began in opposition to Felix [Auger-Aliassime in Dubai]. I feel it was very aggressive match on his service video games. So I am enhancing rather a lot. And I’m going to maintain enhancing and in an infinite means. So I am actually wanting ahead to what’s coming.”
One would possibly surprise why Cressy would sacrifice a part of the distinctive trait that has helped him hassle so many stars. The No. 39 participant within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings defined he’s looking for any enchancment he can.
“[I am] truly beginning to obtain an more and more massive degree in my serve and [realised] that my rating [has] nonetheless [been] the identical for the final couple months, regardless that my serve is getting higher and higher. That is the realisation that caught with me,” Cressy stated. “That one per cent change on the returns can get me plus 5, plus 10 spots within the rankings as a substitute of a one per cent change on the serve. That isn’t actually getting me a lot enchancment.”
The numbers again up Cressy’s line of thought. One yr in the past he gained 88.8 per cent of his service video games in line with Infosys ATP Stats. Up to now in 2023 his success fee has been 89.6 per cent, the fourth-best proportion on Tour behind solely Novak Djokovic, Matteo Berrettini and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Cressy has additionally seen positive factors behind his first serve, successful 81 per cent of these factors this yr, second on Tour trailing solely Berrettini. In 2022 the American gained 78.3 per cent of his first-serve factors.
Nonetheless, Cressy has gained simply 9 per cent of his return video games in 2023. It isn’t a statistic he’s hiding from. That’s the reason he’s so eager to work on that aspect of his recreation.
“I knew it was coming. I knew I needed to begin having a progress mindset on the returns as effectively,” Cressy stated. “And that is what I am doing and I feel massive issues are coming from me.”
Cressy has lengthy studied the perfect servers on the earth — each previous and current — on YouTube to attempt to apply sure traits from their video games to his personal. This yr’s Montpellier finalist has been finding out the returns of Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. He has additionally watched gamers like Roger Federer to see completely different approaches to the return.
“I feel the primary takeaway is to return in a means that I really feel good on the serve,” Cressy stated. “So I feel having an aggressive mindset on the return is the best way to go for certain.”
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