Shakopee's Jackson Allen caps perfect tennis season with 2A singles title

It was the perfect end to a perfect season.

Shakopee junior Jackson Allen won the Class 2A boys' tennis singles title to put an exclamation mark on his undefeated season. The top seed beat No. 3 seeded Wayzata senior Nicholas Beaty 6-1, 6-2 Friday in the state tournament at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center.

Allen's losses for the season: zero. How many victories?

"I haven't really been keeping track of my record, honestly," Allen said. "I just try to focus on the match at hand."

He said he had more confidence going into this year, and last year's state tournament experience helped calm his nerves.

In the championship match, Allen won his first two service games with aces on game point. Then he promptly broke Beaty on his first opportunity for an early 3-1 lead.

"He looked rock solid when he started the match today," said Jenny Arnfelt, who watched the match with her co-coach, Susan Allen, Jackson's mom. "We even looked at each other and smiled and said, 'He's got this.' "

"It's amazing," she said.

Allen and Beaty dug in during the second set with a few longer rallies, including one with 18 shots. Allen leaned on his serve, and his passing shots were solid in the tournament, he said.

One of the only hiccups for Allen in the match was early in the second set when he broke for a 2-1 lead, but Beaty responded by breaking right back. Allen held his serve at love for a 3-2 lead he didn't surrender. The break gave Allen a lot of confidence, he said.

"Kind of opened it up from there," he said.

The championship match had a delayed start time by about an hour because Beaty's semifinal match that morning lasted about 2½ hours. Beaty upset No. 2 seed Sebastian Vile, a sophomore from Rochester Mayo, 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-4.

"The circumstances were definitely in my favor today," Allen said.

Friday's championship was a re-match of the 2015 third-place match, where Allen was also victorious.