It bugs Arlina Shen when she loses a point. That's how seriously she takes each one of them.
But heading into her final match Friday, the Blake senior told herself to relax and have fun, because she won't get to re-live this opportunity again. She even ended with a subtle fist pump when she closed out her match to win back-to-back Class 1A singles titles.
"I'm kind of relieved," Shen said. "But also at the same time, I'm a little sad just because this is my last match of my high school career, and it's definitely a match that I'm going to remember forever."
Top-seeded Shen defeated Blake teammate Sonia Baig 6-2, 6-2 in the Class 1A girls' tennis singles championship at Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis.
It was the fourth time in Shen's five championship matches that she's faced a teammate. Shen was a runner-up three years running to Blake teammates before finally winning last year. Shen pointed to her mental game improving over the years, adding that those three losses made her stronger and motivated to reach first place.
"I think last year I was a lot more nervous and just thinking more about the championship match because three losses is always still in the back of my mind," Shen said.
She closed out her high-school tennis career with five team state titles, three runner-up finishes in singles and two singles championships.
This year, she also added "some twists to her game" when Blake coach Mike Ach asked her to be more willing to make errors instead of playing so conservatively. He pressed her this year to be more aggressive, attach more and hit more winners.
