The worst start in the Billy Martin era continues.

And the Bruins’ recent results have UCLA’s longest-active head coach searching for answers.

“In my 42 years, I don’t think I’ve lost three matches in a row, much less four matches in a row,” Martin, who’s been a coach in Westwood since 1984 and head honcho since 1994, said. “So I’m questioning myself, what I’ve got to do and what we’ve got to do. It’s just a new chapter in my coaching career, quite honestly.”

UCLA men’s tennis (2-5) has spent the past few weeks in free fall, losing five of its last six matches. But the squad will get a shot at an especially sweet victory Saturday, taking on crosstown rival USC (5-3) at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

“Oh, my God, if you can’t get excited for USC-UCLA – boy, you better hang it up,” Martin said. “We will be ready and feisty and competitive.”

The Trojans are headlined by No. 34 Peter Makk and No. 82 Nathan Trouvé. Trouvé defeated Pepperdine’s No. 53 Maxi Homberg en route to Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, announced Feb. 19.

Freshman No. 118 Kaylan Bigun, who himself defeated Homberg in the Bruins’ last match, last played on court two in singles and could face Trouvé on Sunday.

“I believe in this team,” Bigun said. “This might be a tough moment, but we’re definitely going to have a lot of wins coming our way.”

Amid bouts of illness and injury that have hampered the Bruins’ roster, Martin has been forced to experiment with his doubles lineup. In the match against Pepperdine, Martin split up his No. 15 doubles team of senior Alexander Hoogmartens and junior Aadarsh Tripathi with sophomore Spencer Johnson out.

Instead, Martin opted to pair Hoogmartens with Johnson’s usual courtmate – redshirt sophomore Emon van Loben Sels – and Tripathi with freshman Rudy Quan.

“It never helps to have to break it up. But that happens to all teams,” said Martin. “We have to deal with it. And I thought Emon and Alex played exceptionally well.”

With changes to the lineup, Gianluca Ballotta has stepped into the No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles spots over the past three games. While he’s yet to tally a win, the junior’s last two singles matches have stretched to three sets, both ending unfinished, while two of his three doubles sets with partner senior Giacomo Revelli ended in tiebreaker losses.

Ballotta says the Bruins will be amped up and ready to give a strong fight against the Trojans.

“There’s a lot of pressure, a lot of nerves, but in a good way,” Ballotta said ahead of the Bruins’ crosstown showdown. “I’m just going to bring what I brought today (against Pepperdine). … If I have to get off the court in an ambulance, so be it.”