Al Nabhani wants to make a statement

Dubai: She is the face of tennis in the Gulf region, and Oman's Fatma Al Nabhani only wants to get better so that she can change the impression the world has of people from here.

"I want to get myself into the top 100 one day as that will be my passport to playing at some of the top tournaments in the world. It is in this way that I would like to change the impression the world has about people from the Gulf region," Fatma told Gulf News.

The 18-year-old Omani took one step in this direction at the qualifying for the 2010 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship earlier this week when she became the first-ever woman from the Gulf to win at a significant Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event. On Sunday, Al Nabhani clawed her way from the brink of defeat against 121-ranked Eketerina Bychkova to win 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 to register her first-ever win on the Tour, but fell at the next hurdle against Belgian journeywoman Kirsten Flipkens 6-0, 6-4.

"I was exhausted after that first round match," she said.