"Playing against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev made me realize they're very stable mentally" - Maxime Cressy
Maxime Cressy believes the main difference between top players like Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexander Zverev and the rest of the field is mental strength.
Cressy reached his first ever tour final at the Melbourne Summer Set last week, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. As a result of his exploits, the American has broken into the top 100 of the ATP rankings for the first time in his career.
Speaking at his press conference after the loss, Cressy reflected on his areas of development as a player. The 24-year-old claimed that he still had a long way to go to catch up with players such as Tsitsipas and Zverev, especially in terms of keeping a level head during the difficult periods of a match.
"Playing these kind of players like Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev made me realize that they're very stable mentally," Cressy said. "And that's one of the biggest differences that separated these guys from the other ones."
Cressy pointed to his meeting against Tsitsipas at the 2020 US Open as the moment where he realized he was not at the level he needed to be. Having lost that match in straights after a closely-fought first set, the World No. 75 credited the encounter for teaching him the importance of mental fortitude.
Cressy claimed that since then he has been working more diligently on improving the mental aspect of his game.
"When I started playing Tsitsipas a year and a half ago, I realized that I wasn't at the same level," Cressy said. "I realized that it was more mental than the level in itself. Now I've been mostly working on that."
Very good performance from Stefanos Tsitsipas to beat Maxime Cressy 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4 and reach #USOpen R3
Next: Borna Coric. https://t.co/3H9pHb8IKF
Stefanos Tsitsipas has been working with a pyschologist since the age of 12
True to what Maxime Cressy gleaned, Stefanos Tsitsipas has gone to great lengths to strengthen the mental part of his game. In fact, to keep himself sharp, the 23-year-old has been availing the services of a psychologist for more than a decade.
Tsitsipas talked about his longtime sports psychologist (Kostas Pergantis) when I mentioned that he starts most of his matches this season strong. "We have been working together a lot recently. He has helped me with breathing techniques and meditation".
That said, Tsitsipas likes to maintain a certain independence when it comes to navigating the mentally tough aspects of tennis. The Greek had expanded on that after his victory over Ugo Humbert at the 2021 Canadian Open, saying that he preferred to come up with his own solutions.
"Yeah, he (the psychologist) helps me whenever I need help," Tsitsipas had said. "Generally I try to find solutions and resolve my problems on my own. I don't want to depend too much on people on certain occasions than I need to."
It remains to be seen whether Maxime Cressy can reach that same level of self-sufficiency in the years to come. But given the composure he showed last week in Melbourne - and even in the final against Nadal - many believe the signs are promising.