(WTNH) _ Tennis Court #5 is where Christian Malerba feels the most comfortable.  For a guy who nearly didn't make it out of his freshman season, he put together a nice run on the court.

Malerba put together an impressive streak of 8 straight wins.  It seemed unlikely four years ago that he'd end up as, not just a solid contributor to the team, but a team captain.

"He started out just about 4 years ago, not sure if he was gonna make the team.  I mean honestly he just wanted to be part of a team and he's turned into one of the most inspiring outstanding performers I've had in my 16 years here," said Tennis Coach Glenn Marshall.

Marshall said Malerba would stay on the court playing all night if you'd let him.  That's kind of funny for a guy who grew up in Baseball and Football crazy Derby where there aren't too many tennis players.  "Then one day I was in the garage picked up a tennis raquet and I was like this looks like a lot of fun," Malerba said.

Malerba took to the game of tennis and stuck with it, even after he apparently wasn't good enough to be a ballboy at New Haven's Pilot Pen Tournament.  "I was probably 10 or 11 and I don't even know what happen," he said.  "I was real excited about the tournament being around and I just didn't make it, they had 25 to 30 guys tryout maybe more and I was just the first guy they got rid of me."

Malerba was good enough to play at Cheshire Academy and to be recruited by UConn, but his freshman year was nearly his last after he got in some academic troubles.  "Not so much partying but staying up long nights, meeting some friends, you know its tough to want to go to sleep when you've got thousands of other kids right around you," said Malerba. 

Malerba was able to work through it and the experience has not only helped him, but it's given him credibility as the team captain.  "Sometimes young guys come in and they're not doing so well in the beginning of the semester and so I talk to them and I tell them that I've been there," he said, "it's tough, but you want to make sure you get out of it now cause if you dig yourself into a hole its gonna be trouble for a long time."

Malerba seemed to have saved his best for last.  While so many seniors have letdowns their final year, he's making the most out of every second.

"Senior year it is a letdown a little bit cause you're worried about getting into the real world," he said, "but for me I'm just taking it once step at a time and enjoying it while it lasts right now."