Pedro Alonso is the longest tenured member of the Fordham men’s tennis team. Alonso has been a spark for the Rams in the early stages of their season with strong performances in Fordham’s first two contests. He posted both a doubles and singles point for the Rams in their 5-2 victory over Siena on Sept. 19. A day later, he continued his successful weekend contributing a singles point in Fordham’s 5-2 victory over Rider in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Alonso and the Men’s Tennis team will next be in action Jan. 30 at St. Peter’s in Jersey City, New Jersey.
The Fordham Ram: Coming off a tough 3-13 season last year, what is the team’s mindset going into this year?
Pedro Alonso: Coming from last season the mindset was definitely to work really hard because we knew we needed to improve our results a lot. The attitude has been excellent from everyone, we came with a positive mindset and just thinking of becoming better every day, which sometimes is tough coming from a tough season as last year.
TFR: What role has coach Mike Sowter played in your development as well as the development of the team?
PA: Coach Sowter has been a huge improvement for the team and also for me personally. He is an incredibly great coach in all aspects and he has been able to motivate everyone on the team and make everyone work hard to become better. I am definitely much happier and motivated since Coach Sowter is here, and he has been able to drastically change the team’s attitude and mindset.
TFR: Being the oldest member on a young team, how important is it for you to take a leadership role?
PA: After being in the team for over two years now, I see things from a different perspective and I just try to help the team in any way I can. But overall we have a great team and everyone in the end helps everyone.
TFR: What made you choose Fordham way back during the recruiting process?
PA: Coming from Spain, I chose Fordham mainly because it had a really good tennis program with many good players, and because I wanted to study finance, so Fordham being in New York was perfect for me.
TFR: How has your experience changed in the program through the years?
PA: My experience in the team has been absolutely different every year, none of my teammates from my first year and a half are here anymore, and every year (or even every semester) has just been hugely different. Since the turnover of team members was very high over the past years, the team dynamics changed hugely each time. Coach Sowter coming last semester was the biggest change I’ve experience, also it has been a change for the better. The difference between having Sowter and our last coach Mickey is huge.
TFR: What is the one goal you have for this team going forward?
PA: For this year, my goal is to have a winning record and end up having a great result in the A-10s. I think the team is going in the right direction and that by keeping the hard work we will be very successful over the next years.
