![Petro Alex, of Mounds View High School, screams minutes before hitting the ball to win his match against Zeke Delain, of Elk River High School. Petro's win was the deciding factor in Mounds View's State Tennis Tournament victory over Elk River on Wednesday June 3, 2015. ] RACHEL WOOLF rachel.woolf@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/NHS4HWRNM5C2B6DBI5V5X4H7RM.jpg?&w=1080)
Two years ago, Mounds View brothers Abraham and Petro Alexopoulos — Alex, for short — were living on the Greek island of Crete, enjoying the sunshine and the warmth and the outdoor tennis. Minnesota was the furthest thing from their minds.
Playing an aggressive, hard-hitting style, Petro Alex, an eighth-grader, provided the clinching point at No. 4 singles for the Mustangs in a 4-3 victory over Elk River in the Class 2A boys' tennis championship match. Earlier, Abraham and fellow senior Carter Jones had won their match at No. 1 doubles.
Mounds View's fourth state championship validated the Mustangs' season-long No. 1 ranking despite not having an elite level player at the top of the lineup. Mounds View's strength all season has been its depth, which was on display Wednesday at the University of Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center as the Mustangs dropped the top three singles matches but swept the doubles before Petro's match-winning 6-3, 6-3 victory.
"That's the kind of thing that makes team tennis special," Mounds View coach Mike Cartwright said. "We didn't have four or five great players. We won with 13 really good ones."
The Alex brothers experienced a number of firsts when they moved to Minnesota in 2013. They had never seen snow, never played tennis under a roof and never been on a tennis team before. After winning Wednesday's match, Petro admitted that this was a different kind of paradise.
"I was excited to move to Minnesota because it was America, but when we got here, it was like the coldest winter in Minnesota in 20 years," he said. "I had never played indoor tennis. I had never seen snow. It was all new to me, but this is just great. I love it."
Much of the credit for Mounds View's success goes to its senior leaders — Carter Jones, Abraham Alex and Hunter Krebsbach. The Mustangs were seeded No. 1 in the 2014 tournament but lost to East Ridge in the first round. That, Jones said, would not happen again.
"Last year we faltered because we didn't have the kind of work ethic and focus that we needed," Jones said. "We got together over the summer and decided to start over and do things the right way. We told the players that if you weren't going to work hard, this might not be the team for you."
![Abraham Alex, of Mounds View High School, prepared to hit the ball while playing a doubles match with Carter Jones (not pictured) against Elk River High School's Tyler Creelman and Derek Williams on Wednesday June 3, 2015. ] RACHEL WOOLF rachel.woolf@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/62MKQIQMOFFMCPUP2QF7ZASN3U.jpg?&w=1080)
