Bahia Mouhtassine of Morocco has a dream… she wants to see players from the Arab world dominate tennis at the highest level, just like the Russians are presently doing.

"No, I do not want to be a coach after I retire from the WTA," Morocco's top player told Gulf News.

"I want to help players from the Arab world break clear and dominate the tennis world," she smiled after winning an commendable third gold medal by adding the women's singles title to her earlier doubles and teams crowns at the 10th Pan Arab Games here.

Mouhtassine tamed teammate Habiba Afrakh 6-2, 6-2 on the final day of the tennis competition at the Sports City Complex.

Such an achievement is nothing new for the 24-year-old Moroccan resident from Mohammadia. "I also won all three gold medals at the 1997 Pan Arab Games in Lebanon," she disclosed.

The qualifying round competition for the US Open in 1999 did not allow the Moroccan player to defend her titles two years later in Amman.

"The US Open was important and hence I could not travel to Jordan for the 1999 Games. But here I am back for what is rightfully mine," she smiled.

Over the past few years, Mouhtassine and close friend Selima Sfar of Tunisia have been the only two players who have managed to bring a whiff of hope for Arab women's tennis.

"In the first place, a lot of thinking has to change in this region, especially when it comes to women's participation," Mouhtassine said.

Sfar, who is now based in France, is already on the downhill of her career and Mouhtassine is just about starting.

During her career, Mouhtassine has managed to reach a career-high WTA ranking of 139. She presently stands at 160 on the WTA Tour with the intention of breaking into the top 100.

"Getting into the top 100 by the end of the year is an immediate goal for me," she said.

"I will have to keep travelling and winning at the same time," she insisted.

"If I cannot achieve my immediate goals, then maybe I should call it quits and start working on seeing someone else from the Arab world rise to the top," she stated.

Mouhtassine has a total career earnings of $185,000 through the 11 ITF women's circuit singles titles she has won so far.

"If I cannot achieve my immediate goals, then maybe I should call it quits and start working on seeing someone else from the Arab world rise to the top"