Typically, tennis players grunt in order to hit a little harder and mess with the opponent’s perception of the ball. Maxime Cressy, meanwhile, seems to grunt in tribute to tennis great Waluigi. The world No. 335 can be heard moaning almost every time he strikes the ball—sometimes both before and during the hit—and howling after every minor triumph. Cressy’s opponents this week at the ATP Challenger in Cleveland, and even his neighbors on nearby courts, grew sick of his noise.




World No. 187 Tim Smyczek lost to Cressy yesterday, 6-4, 6-3. Below you will find a sample of Cressy’s loudest moaning, followed by the precise moment that Smyczek snapped, one game later:

“Shut up! Jesus! Go back to frickin’...” says Smyczek, trailing off, maybe unsure what to make of his Paris-born opponent who plays under the U.S. flag. His scold didn’t work, anyway; as seen in the last part of the video, Cressy did not shut-up-Jesus, and continued to holler all the way to match point.


Earlier in the week, Cressy was playing in a third set, doing his thing, serve-and-volleying, shrieking maniacally, when over on the adjacent court, world No. 304 Ulises Blanch kindly requested that he “shut up, man!”



Maybe one day the advice will stick and Cressy will change his approach. But he hasn’t lost a match all week, so, maybe not.

H/t Robby

