With his long, wavy hair and the beginnings of a beard, one would expect Nassim Slilam to be a bit of a wild card off the court. Turns out he’s pretty wild on the court, too.
The only thing consistent about Slilam’s play so far this spring has been his inconsistency. The lone senior on a young Florida team, he has struggled out of the gate on his way to a 4-5 singles record in the dual-match season. As good as he has looked — a straight-set win against No. 96 Mousheg Hovhannisyan of Pepperdine was probably his finest win — Slilam has been equally disappointing at times.
Coach Andy Jackson says that often Slilam’s problem has been trying too hard.
“I’d like to see him play a little more consistent and a little more relaxed,” Jackson said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a kid try as hard as he’s trying right now. Sometimes he’s kind of getting in his own way.”
One major effect of trying too hard is missing easy shots. Against Wake Forest on Jan. 29, Slilam had a chance to put away Danny Kreyman during a third-set super tiebreak. Up by a point, Slilam missed a tennis equivalent of a slam dunk, hitting a forehand long. Kreyman eventually won the match.
“I don’t ever worry when I see a guy is trying a bit too hard,” Jackson said. “Sometimes it looks like he’s not trying, but that’s just a response to when he can’t take it anymore.”
With Southeastern Conference play beginning at home today at 5 p.m. against Tennessee, Slilam said that part of the strength of this year’s team is its depth and being able to compensate for the occasional poor individual performance.
“I feel that we don’t really have a number one this year,” Slilam said. “The beauty of this team is from number eight to number one, we can have the same level (of play). So it’s much easier for coach to put whoever he wants wherever he wants. All of us are willing to play anywhere. “
Leading by example, Slilam has played this year at all top-three singles spots, although the No. 2 spot seems to be where Jackson is most comfortable playing him. He has yet to find his comfort zone in any spot. However, it’s worth noting that three of his five losses have come to top-25 opponents.
As inconsistent as he has been, Slilam still said he feels comfortable with his play so far.
“Tennis-wise, I feel pretty good,” he said. “I feel pretty confident.”
