Kristian Kiland is on the cusp of playing tennis professionally.
He's already tasted victory this season on the entry-level ITF Canadian Futures tour, winning a match at the $25,000 F4 tournament in Kelowna in late June, but he knows there's still plenty of work to do before he's ready to challenge for any pro titles.
At 21, Kiland is preparing for his final year of college tennis at Doane University in Nebraska, where he helped the Tigers to a third-place finish in the NAIA Great Plains Athletic Conference regular season and a berth in the conference playoff final.
Kiland, a physics major at Doane, was a first-team conference all-star in singles and doubles and the Kelly Road secondary school graduate made the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) College Division All-American second team. Having played so much for so long in the college ranks, Kiland is doing things with his racquet he could only dream of doing a few years ago.
"I feel really good about my game. I'm a lot quicker around the court and can dictate the point off both wings now," he said. "People used to pick on my backhand side and know that I couldn't hit big winners but now I feel I can really whack my backhand and can dictate off both sides."
Kiland's brother, Jim Condon, played Kiland this past Saturday at the Prince George Tennis Club and was struggling, down 6-0, 6-0, 3-0, when he took a break to speak to The Citizen.
"My arm hurts from trying to extend it to return his serve - he's serving closer to the lines and his kick-serve is better," said Condon.
"His returns are a lot more powerful, he's not just trying to get them in anymore, he's going for depth. I hit a lot harder than he does and I used to hit to his backhand and wait for him to make a mistake but that doesn't happen anymore. And he doesn't get tired."
At the Futures tournament, the unranked Kiland beat Michael Brzezinski, 6-1, 6-2 in the opening draw, then ran into Kevin Kylar, the top men's player from Manitoba, who defeated Kiland in straight sets, 6-0, 6-3.
"I wasn't going down there to win anything, I know eventually I'll have to play somebody who's just way too good," said Kiland. "Everybody is so good, but it's just nice to know I can at least compete a little bit at that level. Any time you expose yourself to watching stuff like that live you get a feel for how good those guys are and I'm sure that's helpful."
While he's away at college, Kiland plays virtually every day and says at any time he can hook up with a player who will give him a good game. That doesn't happen at home, where he has to wait for his brother or 2015 Prince George Open champion James Nearing to finish work before they can get to the court, where Kiland spends his days conducting lessons as the club's teaching pro.
Condon and Nearing, who lost to Kiland in the P.G. Open final a month ago, are the only players in the city good enough to push Kiland on the court. The lack of competition and the fact the city has no indoor courts means Kiland will eventually have to move if he wants to reach his tennis potential.
"I've gotten used to playing tennis all year round, the only time I don't play is when I come back here for Christmas," said Kiland. "It would be hard to get used to playing just six or seven months a year again. I'm definitely thinking of moving somewhere that has indoor courts. I don't want college tennis to be the end of my competitive career.
"My next goal is to get at least one ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) point. You just have to win one round in the main draw (of a pro tournament) then you can call yourself a professional tennis player. It so tough to get up to that level but it's a good long-term goal."
Condon, past-president of the Prince George club, says the odds are stacked against developing provincial-calibre players like Kiland in the city because of the short season. Most other cities in B.C. have indoor courts. But with only about 120 members in the club, Condon says that's not enough to justify the expense of building and operating an indoor facility. But that doesn't mean tennis in the city will remain strictly an outdoor sport.
"We need between 400 and 500 members to support an indoor centre," said Condon.
"We do need indoor courts but you can develop an indoor program with portable courts in a gym. We just need someone dedicated to do it year-round and the funding has to be there. I looked four or five years ago and you could get a roll-out court that gets rolled out onto a hardwood floor for $20,000."
Condon, 31, teamed up with Kiland in late May to capture the men's doubles championship at the Lakeview tournament in West Kelowna, the first time a Prince George team has won the title. Kiland went on to take the men's singles final over longtime nemesis Jeremy Bell of Vernon.
Three weeks ago in Kelowna, Condon and Kiland lost to Joachim Nierfeld and Calvin Thalheimer in the doubles final, while Michael Bitcon of Kelowna beat Kiland 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinal.
Kiland and Condon will be back on the court in Kamloops at the Sunshine Open, Aug. 5-7.
