By Christopher Tremblay

Norwood’s Partha Jammalamadaka has been playing tennis since the sixth grade when his dad got him into the sport. Immediately, he fell in love with the sport and found it satisfying when he made a shot. Since that day, he has continued to improve his game, so by the time he got to high school, he wanted to join Norwood Tennis Coach John Churchill’s squad.

The then freshman figured that he’d be able to make the team in some aspect, most likely down the ladder somewhere. Following the tryouts Jammalamadaka was totally beside himself when the coach told him that he’d be playing first singles as a freshman.

“I really thought that I’d be playing doubles that first year,” Jammalamadaka said.  “Whenever I played with my dad, we always played doubles, so I was not used to playing singles at all. During the Covid year, a lot of kids moved on from tennis to other sports; it was nerve wracking to be playing first singles. I was not sure what to expect that year.”

To be thrown into the number one position on the team was stressful for Jammalamadaka as he was unsure of the situation that he was getting into with the high school team. He found it to be somewhat crazy as he didn’t believe that his talent was that of a number one singles player, especially as a freshman. Playing in that top spot saw the first-year high school player squaring off against a majority of talented seniors who were much more experienced in his opinion.

“He was our strongest player on the team as only a freshman and was awarded the top position,” Churchill said. “He finished the year 6-10, which is remarkable for a freshman. He had wins over six different seniors that year and went to extended matches four times.”

Although he put together a rather successful first season, Jammalamadaka was not quite on par at the beginning of the season playing singles. After he recorded his first win against Westwood, he realized that things weren’t that bad and that he might actually have a chance of picking up some more wins. That win not only got the freshman excited, but also raised his expectations hoping to go at least .500 for the season. 

“I was not exactly thrilled with my six wins as I did not meet my goals,” Jammalamadaka said. “I wanted to work on my game, but my family went to India that summer so there was no chance of practicing, but as soon as I got back I worked on my technical issues and raised my confidence.

This past season, the now sophomore found that his confidence and mental game on the court were much better and that his technical skills had improved. He found, however, that the competition was still tough as he was still facing seniors in the number one singles position. Jammalamdaka went 9-7 this past spring.

“The competition was still tough, but I felt that it was a little easier than last year,” Jammalamadaka said. “The victories I did get were earned and not freebees. Coming into this year, I was better prepared to who I was going up against while last year I had no idea what I was up against. I knew more about the teams and the types of players they had; my confidence was also high.”

According to Churchill, the sophomore was much more dominant this year. Within his nine wins, eight were in straight sets (last year he only had two straight set wins); the other win was decided in a Super Tie Breaker in which he won 10-5. Over his last seven matches of the season, Jammalamadaka won six of those matches with his only loss coming against Hopkinton, a team that was seeded fifth in the Division 2 State Tournament.

“He did have some early trouble with a high number of double faults, but he worked hard on being more reliable with that first serve,” the Mustang Coach said. “He did a much better job over the last part of the season by not making those unforced errors. He continued to improve over the course of the season and found the kind of shots he could use to win matches.”

“Originally I was too worried about my opponent and how they were going to take advantage of my serves, especially those players that were backboards and sending my serves back,” Jammalamadaka said. “It was frustrating and annoying, but it was basically my own fault and not playing consistent. I was continually playing over aggressively.”

The opponents that had success against the sophomore were athletes that were able to neutralize his power and go at him with a more offensive game.

“Partha has a lot of potential, and if he works to improve his game during the off-season he should come back even stronger,” Churchill said. “He needs to work on his backhand and mental hurdles. He should be in a better space come next year, but that is not anything against the season he had this year. It was a big accomplishment to have a Norwood player go over .500, I have never seen anyone do it and I’ve been here since 2009.”

Jammalamadaka already has recorded 15 wins over his first two years on the team playing in that number one position. Churchill noted that to do so is remarkable.

With the year having gone by the wayside, the now incoming junior will be looking to continue to improve his game, which in retrospect improve his record. As for continuing to play tennis after high school, things are still too far away for him to start considering. However, he would like tennis to be a part of his future in some way or another, but right now he’s looking toward his final two seasons with Norwood.