Sometimes it would take five tiebreakers played.

Other times, six, or even seven, or however many it took. But Angel Walia was NOT leaving this tennis court yet.

She was a little kid, two years the junior of her brother Armann, and they would be out hitting forehands and volleys, and Armann almost always won.

But the feisty kid sister wouldn’t stop playing until she’d won one, no matter the hour or the tiredness level.

“Did me finally let me win one just so we could go home? Maybe,” she said with a laugh recently, sitting next to one of the Herricks High School tennis courts on which she’s dominated for four years. “But I was pretty stubborn and really, really wanted to beat him.”

Walia, a junior at Herricks, may have had trouble beating her sibling back then, but she’s had very little trouble beating all comers on the high school circuit.

A former Top 5-ranked USTA 12s player, Walia has lost only three matches in team play the past two years. The 15-year-old, ranked No.39 in the USTA 16s Eastern section rankings, has gone 11-1 so far this season through matches of Oct. 14.

She began competing in the county championships on Oct. 15; they were due to be finished that day but because of the awful weather Saturday, the later rounds will be played on Oct. 21-22. But Walia has reached the semifinals, putting her one win away from a state spot.

For Walia, getting a Top-3 finish at counties has been the carrot motivating her all year; as a sophomore she finished fourth there, and last year, despite an injury to her arm that caused her to miss half the season, she reached the quarterfinals.

“I’ve gotten close but haven’t been quite able to get there,” Walia said. “I know how good the other (players) are and I don’t want to just make states, I want to win counties to get there.”

Walia, standing only 5-foot-3, doesn’t win by overwhelming with power. In the tradition of former stars like Justine Henin and Martina Hingis, Walia is a counter-puncher, using the power of her opponents’ shots to punish them with consistent groundstrokes placed perfectly.

Her coach at Sportime Syosset, Maurice Trail, said trying to outhit Walia is a fool’s errand.

“She’s just rock-solid back there,” Trail said. “She’s very smart about the game, very understanding of strategies and things you teach her.”

“She’s got a heart of gold and is such a sponge,” said Herricks head coach Joy Solomon. “Anything you ask her to do, she diligently tries to do it, because she wants to get better.”

Walia said she first caught the tennis bug watching Armann play with their father, Bobby. Picking up a racket at age 6, she was immediately drawn to the individual nature of tennis.

“I’ve got no one to blame and no one to look to for help out there, it’s all on me,” she said with a smile. “I love being on a team here, because we all pull for each other and love each other, but I like how when I’m out there I have to figure things out.”

Walia began playing tournaments around age 10, and has been a mainstay on the USTA Eastern circuit. As she improves she’s gotten stronger at net and worked to improve her serve, gaining more power, consistency and better placement.

She’s changed her court positioning in recent months, moving in closer and closer to try to take balls on the rise and even trying some serving and volleying in high school matches (her only loss this season was to Nina Wiese of Garden City).

Battling injuries the last few seasons has slowed her progress a bit, but Walia is confident her injuries are “down the drain.”

“I’ve gotten a lot stronger and I know I have a lot more potential to improve,” Walia said.

A Division I tennis scholarship offer is her big dream, with several schools having begun to recruit her (TennisRecruiting.net lists her as the No. 17 recruit in New York).

“She definitely has the game for Division I,” Trail said. “She just needs to get a little stronger, finish off her shots a little more and be a little more aggressive when she gets the opportunity.”

Whatever happens, Walia won’t stress too much, as long as she gets her 10-minute power nap in the car on the way to matches.

“I make myself a little lounge back there in the car with my pillows and blankets, and I’m good to go,” she said. “Other people listen to music (to get ready), I just need a quick sleep and I’m good.”