Chris Lam hasn’t played so well lately.
He’ll be the first to admit it.
And he’ll make it perfectly clear just how poor his last
three performances have been.
“The worst matches I’ve played would probably be the
last three I’ve played,” he said. “All three of
them cumulate in my most unfortunate performances so far this
season.”
Lam, who plays at the No. 2 position for the Bruins, has lost to
BYU’s Christian Hand, Arizona State’s Clinton Letcher,
and Arizona’s Roger Matalonga in his last three.
Not one of the those players was ranked in the top 100 in the
preseason rankings, while Lam was ranked No. 18.
“The Arizona trip was tough,” Lam said. “No
one really played well.
“I was struggling just as much as everyone else. I
couldn’t pull it out in the singles.”
Lam lost in straight sets to both Letcher and Matalonga.
The Bruin team captain, who transferred from Santa Clara before
last season, played at No. 4 for UCLA in the team’s run to
the national semifinals last year.
This season, he has been called upon by coach Billy Martin to
step up to the No. 2 position, a spot that includes more attention
as well as more responsibility. Lam also has to face tougher
competition than he saw last year.
“It’s nice to play (at No. 2),” he said.
“There’s more pressure and expectations. Everyone plays
better.
“I like it, though. It’s pushed me to work a lot
harder and keep my intensity up.”
Though Lam has struggled, the Bruin coach still has a lot of
faith in his captain.
“He’s only a match away from getting it back,”
Martin said. “As far as the overall picture, I’m not
down on him at all.”
Now Lam is starting to feel a lot better. After coming down from
the altitude of Arizona, he had a chance to practice hard Monday at
the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
“I definitely feel a lot more comfortable being back here
at UCLA,” he said.
It’s impossible to tell what the rest of the season holds
for Lam. When junior Luben Pampoulov joins the team in April, it is
likely that Lam will be pushed to the No. 3 spot.
But he will take it in stride.
“The lineup is not up to me,” Lam said. “All I
can do is go 100 percent, and it’s up to Coach to put me
wherever he thinks is best.”
For now, it will be No. 2.
And he hopes an end to the losing streak is near.
“It’s okay. It’s three matches. It’s
early in the season. I can put it behind me,” he said.