For the GCC’s top female tennis player, it took more than dedication and hard work to prove herself on an international arena. Muscat-born Fatma Al-Nabhani was the first player from the Gulf to break into the global Top 100 in the junior Grand Slams.

Now 27, the world-class athlete picked up her first tennis racket at the age of four, while watching her elder brothers, Khaled and Mohamed, train with their Egyptian mother, Hadia.

“Tennis runs in the family,” Al-Nabhani says. “My grandfather taught my mother how to play when she was young, and my mother taught my siblings and I. I remember my mom coaching my elder brothers and I would wait outside the courts for hours, begging them to play with me, too.”

While the tennis pro admits she didn’t find it hard to locate tennis courts in Oman at the time, her family decided to construct their own court to be able to play whenever they liked.

“I would anxiously wait for school to be over every day just so I could go practice with my mother.”

The athlete’s first-ever competition was as part of a local Omani mini-tennis tournament. Only five at the time, she recalls: “I wanted to win this trophy so badly; I literally did everything I could not to lose. This is probably the happiest moment from my childhood.”

GOING PRO

Growing up as a female tennis player in Oman came with its challenges, however. Explaining that there were no girls’ category in most local tournaments she participated in as a child, Al-Nabhani had to register under the boys’ category.

“It was a bit challenging to play against the boys but then again, ever since I started winning, I realised that I was much stronger than I thought and that there was definitely room for improvement.”

The tennis champion captured her first international title at just the age of nine, winning the West Asian Championship – Under 13, that took place in Abu Dhabi back in 2000. Despite being the youngest player in the tournament, she went home with two gold and two silver medals. It was at that moment when Al-Nabhani knew that she “wanted to take this forward and pursue a professional career in tennis.”

Training over six hours a day, six days a week forced the player to turn to homeschooling in the ninth grade.

“It was much easier to balance between my studies and tennis, when I turned to homeschooling,” she says. “One of the biggest challenges for me was being the only female tennis player in Oman aspiring to be a professional athlete. It was literally unheard of. I did not have training partners or a professional support system when I started out.”

At 13, Al-Nabhani travelled abroad to various training camps with her mother, who is also her coach, to be a part of a bigger professional sporting community.

Finding the right balance between tennis and school meant that the young athlete needed to find other ways to unwind.

“When I was younger I’d usually go fishing or hangout by the beach; Oman has beautiful coasts everywhere and that was enough to keep me sane,” she continues. “When I grew older, especially recently, I’ve found a new love for archery and shooting. Could this be my new sport? Who knows?”

Looking ahead, the professional tennis player believes that perceptions are changing, and today, Oman and the Middle East are celebrating their young female talents. The once ranked amongst the Top 100 players aims to reclaim her title once more and is exerting all the needed effort to make it to the Grand Slams.

“Nothing is beyond your reach if you aim high and work for it,” she concludes. “Nothing in this world should stop anyone from pursuing their dreams and doing what they do best. The Arab world is changing and our time is now.”