Cressy 'Lets Go' & Claws Into Marseille Second Round

Maxime Cressy walked a tight rope Tuesday in Marseille, but ultimately found a way to win.

The American, who was up a set and a break, defeated French wild card Geoffrey Blancaneaux 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(4) after two hours and 50 minutes to reach the second round of the Open 13 Provence.

“Amazing fight. He fought all the way up until the end,” Cressy said. “I had to stay extremely focussed on what I can control and I think I did that very successfully.”

Cressy hit 22 aces and won 83 per cent of his first-serve points. But the critical moment came on return in the final-set tie-break. With Blancaneaux serving at 4/5, Cressy cracked a forehand return to win the point and that proved the decisive advantage he needed.

“In the tie-break I just told myself to, ‘Let go and just win all your serve points and don’t worry about how to return,’” Cressy, who will next play Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, said. “That’s how I work, unfortunately. I have to just let go and not think and then it works. Very difficult one.”

Cressy was not the only man to advance via a third-set tie-break on Tuesday. In an all-French affair, seventh seed Richard Gasquet edged Laurent Lokoli, 7-6(5), 2-6, 7-6(5). After missing out on two match points on return — one at 5-4 and another at 6-5 in the third — Gasquet won the final four points of the tie-break to come back from 3/5 down.

In other action, Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer rallied past Swede Elias Ymer 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to earn a clash with 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov. The 26-year-old is at a career-high No. 116 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and last week advanced to the quarter-finals in Rotterdam, where he upset Top 10 star Holger Rune in the second round.

Frenchman Gregoire Barrere also moved into the second round in Marseille with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Swiss lefty Marc-Andrea Hustler. Barrere will face Kazakhstani Alexander Bublik for a place in the quarter-finals.