Maxime Cressy said playing Rafael Nadal in an ATP final was “beyond belief” and that was definitely one of the reasons why he lost to the Spaniard in the Melbourne Summer Set final. At the start of the season in January, Cressy reached his first ATP final in Melbourne.
Cressy competed actually very well against Nadal and even had a set point in the first set but the Spaniard escaped with a 7-6 (6) 6-3 win. Last month in Eastbourne, Cressy made his second ATP final before losing to Taylor Fritz.
After losing two ATP finals, Cressy defeated Alexander Bublik 2-6 6-3 7-6 (3) in last week’s Newport final to lift his first title.
Cressy: Playing Nadal was beyond belief
“Those matches were also nerve-wracking, just like today!
Playing Nadal was beyond belief, it was more like, ‘Is it actually happening?’ I think that was one reason I wasn’t able to beat him. Against Fritz, it was close margins as well,” Cressy told the ATP website.
“As everyone says, the third time is the charm. It’s a big step forward for me, because I don’t think I’m going to be as nervous for the next finals that may come. The first title is definitely the most difficult one.”
Cressy, 25, made his ATP debut just last year and now he is an ATP champion and the 33th-ranked player in the world. Cressy has become recognizable for his serve-and-volley style and now he is hoping to inspire more players to turn to the style of play that was pretty popular half a century ago.
“My dream is to really make serve and volley great again, and inspire many people to start playing that game style. I’ve seen other players do it a lot more, like Rafa [Nadal]. If I can impact the tennis world, and make serve and volley a game style that people enjoy and want to play, it’s going to be big,” Cressy added.
