This year’s Gulf Islands Open men’s singles tennis title went to Nate Kray-Gibson, a 17-year-old player who first swung a racket on local courts at the age of three.
Kray-Gibson beat Mike Leksinski by scores of 6-2, 0-6 and 2-10 in the Salt Spring Tennis Association (SSTA) event held the last weekend of August at the Salt Spring Island Tennis Centre.
“It was a lot of fun and a little stressful at times, like it can be,” said Kray-Gibson. “I struggled a little bit with nerves because there were a lot of people watching, but I pulled it together in the final for sure, in the second set, and I held my own . . . It was a good wrap-up to the summer, definitely.”
Other 2025 Gulf Islands Open winners were Tim Dubois and Jordy Sharp (men’s doubles) defeating Douglas Bryan and Torin O’Regan-Latarius 7-6; Judy Kirk and Erica Ross (women’s doubles) topping Pamela Chia-Wai Foo and Maili Wong 6-1, 6-3; and Steve and Mei Mcrae (mixed doubles), defeating Tim Dubois and Vera Zyla 6-2, 6-3.
Another young player, 11-year-old Tao Prihoda, made it to the consolation round in the men’s singles event.
Kray-Gibson’s coach Mukul Karthikeyan said the tournament win proves the 17-year-old is ready to step into a leadership role for the younger players.
“I’m glad that Nate won the final this time because we have a lot of young players coming up, so they need a role model to look up to, and I’m happy that it’s going to be Nate,” he said.
Two years ago the men’s singles Gulf Islands Open winner was another young Salt Spring player: Scott Goddard. He had been coached by Marjorie Blackwood and Peter Schelling, and then Karthikeyan when he arrived earlier that summer. Karthikeyan has coached top-level juniors and professional tour players in India, China, the U.S. and Canada and was the 2017 Indian Professional Tennis Registry coach of the year.
“The system that Mukul has built and the players that come over from Victoria has helped a lot,” said Kray-Gibson. “Just being able to play with different players has been a big thing.”
Since Karthikeyan started coaching through the SSTA in 2023, an increasing number of talented young players have come over to Salt Spring to play and learn. The result has been staggering, with more than 50 titles won by his students, and 11 of them competing at provincial championships. Top honours have included a provincial singles title, a provincial singles runner-up, two provincial doubles titles and two Stanley Park doubles runners-up. Four players have competed nationally nine times. Karthikeyan said most of the top young tennis players on Vancouver Island are now coming to Salt Spring to get coaching from him.
Goddard and Kray-Gibson are the “homegrown tennis stars,” who were also a big reason the Gulf Islands Secondary School boys’ tennis team finished fifth in the province last season in only the second year of having a team.
“We had a good season for sure, and it was tons of fun,” said Kray-Gibson.
While he and Goddard initiated the team and did some co-coaching, Kray-Gibson said help from parents and Karthikeyan was much appreciated.
Kray-Gibson’s parents Ryan Gibson and Adria Kray are strong tennis players, he said, as are other relatives, and he has always been into sports.
“I was a huge soccer player for seven years as well. I’m actually playing on the high school team now, but I took a break for three or four years. I was on the cross country team, but tennis is by far my favourite sport.”
Kray-Gibson also does some tennis co-coaching with Karthikeyan and works at the Salt Spring Island Golf Club.