"I taught Kevin to hold a racket at 9 years old and his talent and dedication has made him the top junior in Northern California after dropping other sports and focusing on tennis," said Sylvano Simeon, a local teaching pro.

With only seven years of experience, Kaiser has blossomed faster than most ever thought possible. He's 6-foot-4 and 180 pounds, and plays right handed with a two-handed backhand.

Tennis was not Kaiser's original choice for sports. He was a Little League baseball pitcher, participated in AYSO soccer and played basketball up through the eighth grade.

He didn't start playing tennis until he was 9 years old, and played his first tournament as a 12-year-old. But by the time he reached high school, he decided to concentrate his attention on tennis.

Of course, there's more to life than sports, and Kaiser knows it. He's not only an outstanding athlete, but also a scholar. Kaiser maintains a 3.6 grade point average as a junior at Saratoga High School and will graduate in June of 2006. He's already being actively recruited by Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Harvard and other universities.

Kaiser is fluent in Spanish, no doubt because of the influence of his mother who was born in Peru. But it was more likely his father who got him involved in tennis. Bill Kaiser was a tennis player in college and currently plays at the USTA 5.0 level.

Kevin recently reached the finals of the Winter Supernationals in Arizona, which features a draw of the 128 best players in the nation and is one of the big four tennis tournaments of the year. Kaiser won six matches to reach the finals, including a come-from-behind win over a player coached by John Roddick, the brother of tennis professional Andy Roddick.

Over Thanksgiving, Kaiser reached the semifinals of the boys National Open in Southern California in the 18 and under age division.

Kaiser won the last junior Northern California tournament he competed in. He proved his worth against formidable opponents in the tourney played at the Courtside Club in Los Gatos, defeating Stanford-bound Ken Kao in the finals 6-3, 6-2. Kao starred locally at Monta Vista High School.

Kaiser helped the Saratoga Falcons to a Central Coast Section Division 2 championship last spring and still has two years of high school tennis at Saratoga ahead of him. Still, his future in the sport beyond the high school level looks bright.

"Kevin has a huge upside," said Brandon Coupe, a touring professional tennis player, "and serious pro potential."