Maxime Cressy grew up idolising the net-rushing brilliance of Grand Slam champions Pete Sampras and Pat Rafter.
So it was little surprise the Paris-born, American-raised player sought to channel two of the last great serve-volleyers in his formative years.
The 24-year-old was never the overnight sensation.
He entered 2021 with a 7-7 tour-level mark but an upset of Pablo Carreno Busta from four match points down in New York last August reaffirmed Cressy's belief in the style Sampras once lamented was all but extinct.
"So many serve-volleyers had an impact on me – Pete Sampras, Pat Rafter, (Stefan) Edberg and all these guys," Cressy said during his run to a maiden ATP Final at the Melbourne Summer Set to start 2022.
"I started serve-and-volleying when I was 14 and nobody has been able to convince me otherwise to stop. I'm so happy I had these idols I can be inspired (by). My goal is to make serve-and-volley huge in the next 10 years."
Cressy entered qualifying at Melbourne Park a year ago as the world No.172, but this time around arrived for his Australian Open main-draw debut as the world No.70.
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After booking his maiden Grand Slam fourth-round appearance by beating Chris O'Connell on Saturday, that mark was set to climb even higher.
In his opening three rounds, Cressy won an astonishing 72 per cent of his 299 points at net and serve-volleyed on 74 per cent of points, of which he won 74 per cent of the 283 points he deployed the tactic.
His return of serve was equally aggressive: he had clocked a tournament-leading 26 return winners at the completion of the third round.
Cressy's net-rushing tactics, particularly off the return, had caught the eye of Simon Rea, Senior Manager Game Analysis at Tennis Australia.
"He's not always charging the net behind the return, but his intent is absolutely to be the aggressor in the point," said Rea, also a commentator who previously coached Nick Kyrgios and Sam Stosur.
"I called two of his matches in the (Melbourne) Summer Set and he's the most aggressive returner by position that I've seen in men's tennis, perhaps ever.
"As a consequence, he can't always expect himself to be clean at contact, but he implies pressure by position as much as anything."
According to insights powered by Infosys, Cressy returned 82 per cent of first-serve points and every second-serve point inside the baseline in his opening two rounds, against the huge-serving John Isner and Czech qualifier Tomas Machac.
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"He's not a classic chip-charger as such, more wants to hit and come in," Rea said. "It's his intent to play on his terms – and refusal to budge – that is the most impressive."
The American's tactics will be put to the test against the wily second seed Daniil Medvedev next.
Regardless of outcome, a new net-rushing flag-bearer has been anointed and he's content to go it alone if required.
"I think he has good potential. He's going to be a very uncomfortable player for every opponent," Nadal said after defeating Cressy in the Melbourne Summer Set final.
"If he's able to stay focused and do what he has to do, he's going to be much higher in the rankings at the end of the season without a doubt."