Maxime Cressy confident he can shake up ATP Tour

Maxime Cressy is serving and volleying—and shaking up the ATP Tour in the process.

The 24-year-old has become known for his throwback playing style, but says it's also the way forward in a game dominated by baseliners.

"It’s obviously a much more grueling sport when you play from the baseline, but I think it’s also because most players are scared to go to the net and there’s many opportunities in every rally to come in, but no one comes in," Cressy told the Palm Beach Post at this week's event in Delray Beach, also arguing that the lack of variety has allowed a small group of players to keep winning.

"That’s why they’re stuck in those 30-to-40 stroke rallies. That’s why they stay back, and they win all their matches because they’re better than all of those guys at the baseline."

Cressy is now in the Top 60, having reached the final of a warm-up tournament in Melbourne, falling to Rafael Nadal, and the fourth round of the Australian Open, where he went four sets against Daniil Medvedev.

Though a frustrated Medvedev called Cressy's game "boring" on court, he praised the French-born American's ability following the encounter. Cressy counters Medvedev's on-court comment, saying "there needs to be a new way of winning for people to start seeing tennis as more exciting and thrilling," and fans are enjoying the revival.

Having been dropped by the French tennis federation (FFT) and not selected for singles in his first year at college, Cressy has experienced plenty of doubts from others but says he's aiming for the top of the game.

He says the starting point of his recent climb was his win against Pablo Carreño Busta on the way to reaching the third round of the US Open. "That win gave me extra confidence that I could actually make it and have the level to be in the Top 10," he said.

Cameron Norrie is the top seed at Delray Beach, with Cressy the final seed in the field at No. 8. He opens with Australia's John Millman Monday.