For young tennis players wanting to develop their game and make a mark on the competitive circuit, Salt Spring has become a destination of choice thanks to Mukul Karthikeyan.
Since becoming a coach at the Salt Spring Tennis Association (SSTA) tennis centre in 2023, Karthikeyan, who will soon be 33, has taught 42 players from off-island and 140 Salt Spring youth through the SSTA junior program.
Five of his off-island students have qualified to compete nationally at least once — meaning they were in the top four or five in B.C. in their age category — with several others earning titles in provincial championships and top tournaments in Vancouver, Victoria, other areas of B.C. and beyond.
Besides Salt Spring’s Nate Kray-Gibson (two runner-up titles and 2025 Gulf Islands Open (GIO) men’s tourney winner) and Scott Goddard (2024 GIO winner, six champion/runner-up titles), multiple champion and runner-up titles have been won by Mansino Snell, Jason Fan, Lucy Chapman, Fiona Huang, Emma Chen, Filbert Zhang, Arcee Yijen Chen, Nate Mauro Smith, Tommy Freer Chapman and Ethan Liu from Victoria and Nanaimo areas.
“What I value most about coach Mukul is that he never tries to fit athletes into a box,” said nationals qualifier Emma Chen in a commendation letter. “He recognizes my strengths and unique playing style, and instead of changing that, he helps me build on it. That approach has made me more confident and motivated to keep improving.”
“In just a year, my strokes, fitness and mental toughness improved drastically,” said Fan. “Thanks to Mukul, I competed at both the 2025 indoor and outdoor nationals. He’s always there to challenge me, encourage me and build my confidence — on and off the court.”
Karthikeyan will say that the off-court stuff is equally important, like developing the right fitness routine, and the camaraderie that comes from participating in group play and camps.
Marjorie Blackwood also coaches on Salt Spring, with some 40 years of experience behind her. She is a former top-50-ranked World Tennis Association player, a member of the Tennis Canada Hall of Fame and a big Karthikeyan fan.
“In the three years Mukul Karthikeyan has been at the Salt Spring Indoor Tennis Centre, juniors and adults of all levels have been infected by his passion for the game,” said Blackwood. “Not only has Mukul brought a high performance mentality and great results for our junior competitors, but he has lifted the fitness and abilities of our adults and seniors as they play the ‘sport of a lifetime.’”
Blackwood said Karthikeyan’s mentorship of youngsters has built a culture of excellence individually and within group training.
“As a former professional player and coach, I am constantly impressed with Mukul’s work ethic and professionalism on and off court,” she said.
Building an environment of hard work, trust and getting results is one of Karthikeyan’s goals.
“Once you get that environment, the players are not going to back off,” he said. “If they see the results coming and all the other kids working harder, then the culture is set, and everyone is going to drive to get better and make the other kids do well too.”
Having competitive players from Vancouver Island training on Salt Spring obviously gives local players a boost, as seen by the Gulf Islands Secondary School tennis team’s fifth place finish at provincial championships last year.
“A lot of Salt Spring kids will be going for the tournaments from now on,” said Karthikeyan, “so it’s pretty good for them to see how the other top juniors train and it gives a lot of motivation for the island kids.”
Karthikeyan can relate to his travelling students as that’s what he had to do to access tennis coaching starting at age nine when he lived in a rural village in India. His coaching career began at age 16 and he’s never looked back, becoming a Professional Tennis Registry master of performance tennis, being one of 16 coaches chosen for the World Tennis Conference 3’s Next-Gen Tennis Coach Project and having taught in 14 different countries. Some of his players represented Junior Davis Cup and national teams in China, India and the U.S.
Karthikeyan came to the island through the SSTA and now offers lessons and programs as a contractor on SSTA courts through his Mukul Karthikeyan – High Performance Tennis company.
He is also happy when the parents of junior players take up the sport. Knowing what their kids are going through on the court helps parents be even more supportive, he said, and further strengthens the island’s tennis culture.
One thing he likes about teaching on Salt Spring, in fact, is the range of ages he encounters.
“So at 3:30 p.m. I’ll be teaching a six year old; the next day I’ll be having an 83-year-old on the court . . . It makes me understand the people well and connect to them. It’s challenging, but also it helps me to grow better as a person.”
People can book a lesson with Karthikeyan through coaching@saltspringtennis.ca.