The Prowler
Foreign players crush Sweere’s spirits, esteemMonday, May 24, 2010 By Let Them Eat Cake (aka Rachel Mueller)
Joshua Sweere, senior and former number one singles player, started off the tennis season with high hopes, but after facing Andrea Lofino, the number three nationally ranked singles player and AFS student from Italy, those hopes evaporated quickly. "Every time I walk onto the tennis courts for practice, I shudder and think of that day when I played him," said Josh. At the Plymouth meet on April 24, Lofino beat Josh 6-1 and 6-0. "Most of his teammates were expecting him to play a little bit better against that Lofino kid," said Travis Buechel, a junior player on the team. Josh’s next match was at Kaukauna against the top singles player in Germany, Hogan Van Lichtensteiner. The first set looked hopeful with only a 6-3 loss, but Lichtensteiner showed no mercy and crushed Josh 6-0 in the second set. Josh was then faced with the second-best Albanian doubles team, Adnan Kursumulu and Alek Dreshja, at a varsity meet in Kohler. These two defeated Josh in both sets, 6-0. Josh was reported to be hiding in a closet after the match, unstringing his tennis racquet due to immense amounts of stress. "Sometimes I feel that I’m unable to pay attention in class because of that first match," commented Josh. "It definitely doesn’t help getting bumped down to JV." Since Josh’s performance on varisty ended so badly, Coach La Fountain decided to move him back down to JV. He wasn’t available for comment. "I don’t see what the big deal is," said Alessandro Brachetti, AFS student from Italy. "I played Andrea in recreational play back in Italy and beat him 6-2, 6-0." |