Qualifier Cressy stuns US Open ninth seed Carreno Busto

French-born US qualifier Maxime Cressy fired 44 aces in pulling off a first-round US Open shocker on Tuesday, eliminating Spanish ninth seed Pablo Carreno Busta in a five-set thriller.

The 24-year-old American saved four match points in battling back to defeat the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7).

"The fifth set he would not give me anything," Cressy said. "I just kept telling myself to focus on holding my serve efficiently."

Down 5-2 and 6-3 in the tie-breaker, Cressy went to the net and extended the match with strong volley work.

Carreno Busta, a 2017 and 2020 US Open semi-finalist, smashed his racquet to the court after sending the final shot wide after three hours and 35 minutes.

"One point at a time. I just tell myself the same thing at that point in the match and today it came out my way," Cressy said. "I'm really happy things are starting to pay off."

World number 151 Cressy made his tour-level debut at last year's US Open as a wildcard. He reached his first ATP quarter-final in July at Newport.

A crowd of about 1,500 on an outer court chanted his name and backed him to the finish.

"That lifted me big time. Really helped me out," Cressy said. "It would have been really difficult without them."

Next for Cressy is a second-round match against Georgia's 39th-ranked Nikoloz Basilashvili.

© 2021 AFP