WTA celebrates first graduates of Middle East Coach Inclusion Program

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- With the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz celebrating Jessica Pegula's singles win and the duo of Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani's doubles title at the 2026 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, history was also made for the WTA’s Coach Inclusion Program.

Soulayma El Benna, Asma Bouyahia Ep Bekka, Fatma Al Nabhani, Ameni Bouyahaia Ep Khemakhem and Nancy Karaky became the first graduates of the WTA’s Middle East Coach Inclusion Program.

Beginning their journey at the 2025 WTA Finals Riyadh in November, the group completed a three-phase framework, which aims to fast-track female coaches into elite professional tennis.

Through a mixture of on-and-off court workshops, virtual education sessions and on-site shadowing at WTA events, the cohort received invaluable resources to improve athlete performance tactically, technically and motivationally to rising female tennis players in their home federations.

“After this week, I am full of motivation, and I have a new background,” said El Benna, who is from Tunisia but lives in Bahrain. “I really learned new things. It helps me to go and to develop the other players that I have, and it gives me (other) opinions on how to deal with the players and how to give them more importance and how to encourage them.

“This is really what I learned, this week, how to build a better confidence for this new generation.”

The program was facilitated by mentors Kathy Rinaldi, former Top 10 WTA player and current Head of USTA Coaching, and Issam Jellali, coach of players Ons Jabeur and Zeynep Sonmez. With the Middle East edition, the WTA Coach Inclusion Program rounds out a global footprint that includes all four Grand Slam federations as program hosts in addition to the year-end WTA Finals venue.

“In Saudi Arabia, we have more (of these) programs for the kids, in university and Tennis for All,” said Ep Bekka, who is from Tunisia but is based in Saudi Arabia. “We have this program to include all the kids or all the coaches with us, (and) I’ll transfer all my experience from WTA to Saudi Arabia to the coaches there. They need the information, they need the development, they need the opportunity to come here and to help the players.”

The Americas Coach Inclusion Program launched in 2021 with a small inaugural class, but has expanded rapidly. With the launch of USTA Coaching in 2025, the USTA and WTA are joining forces to deliver the 2025–26 Coach Inclusion Program at the USTA's campus in Lake Nona, Florida. Several graduates have gone on to become Billie Jean King Cup captains.

Elsewhere, the United Kingdom's Lawn Tennis Association-WTA Coach Inclusion Program began in 2024, and is continuing with the 2026 cohort which will have its on-court experience during the clay and grass-court swings. The inaugural French cohort, in partnership with Fédération Française de Tennis and the WTA, will graduate at Roland Garros later this season, while the Asia-Pacific program in collaboration with Tennis Australia, just graduated its class at the Australian Summer of Tennis last month.

This cohort began Phase 1 in Riyadh, where the group completed an introductory workshop both on-court and in the classroom. The material ranged from framing, observation and application, and the group had exposure to players, coaches and agents, understanding the dynamic all three of those personnel play in a team.

For Phase 2, the class attended virtual programming in December and January from their home countries to continue progressing toward Level 1 certification, with consistent check-ins and evaluations. Finally for Phase 3, the program concluded with one of the many highlights of the experience as the group was paired with a current coach of WTA Player in Dubai, completing daily coaching assignments, WTA hours and various experiential activities. 

They shadowed Jellali, who offered an immersive view of high-performance coaching as Sonmez competed in the WTA 1000 in Dubai. Sonmez, from Türkiye, is a one-time singles champion on the WTA Tour, ranked No. 84 in the PIF WTA Rankings. The class had the opportunity to monitor Sonmez on the practice courts before sitting the player's box for her first-round match on Center Court vs. Sara Bejlek. 

“My experience was really amazing,” said Ep Khemakhem, who works for the Saudi Tennis Federation. “It was really good with Issam Jellali and Kathy Rinaldi. They really help us learn more about the players, how we deal with our players before the match, how we choose our tactics, our strategy to deal with (the opponent), and how we build their strength.”

Heading onto Center Court was a full-circle moment for Al Nabhani, who played the Dubai tournament a few times. She made her main-draw WTA debut in doubles back in 2009, receiving a wild card. From Oman, she's the country's most celebrated female tennis player, winning 10 singles and 18 doubles titles on the ITF circuit. 

“The other day I entered the center court I was like, 'Oh God, I was here playing on this court' -- now it's the same passion, but different role,” Al Nabhani said. “It's good for us because I really want to have an impact for the growth of tennis here in the Middle East. This is the goal from this program for us to learn, to give back to the community to the and all the tennis players, all the young sisters in the region.

“We do have a lot of talents here in the Middle East, but it's just the tough part (of) reaching to the pro level and what it takes to reach to that level. The experience that we have is to teach those players and to guide them, to inspire them, to reach to the pro level and help them with their resources, help them with what they really need to reach it.”

Al Nabhani said she hopes the WTA's Coach Inclusion Program will allow her to develop young players in the area and provide them with the foundation next to turning professional, just like she did back in 2007. This experience marked her first coaching program, adding she was grateful to do it with the WTA.

“The WTA’s Coach Inclusion Program is important because it actively creates pathways for more women to lead at the highest levels of tennis,” Rinaldi said. “By investing in education, mentorship and real opportunities, the program doesn’t just open doors -- it reshapes the future of coaching, ensuring the sport benefits from broader representation, stronger leadership, and role models who inspire the next generation.

“Spending time with this incredible group of women as they graduated from the WTA’s Coach Inclusion Program was truly inspiring. Their passion, strength, growth mindset and commitment to growing as leaders in our sport gives me so much confidence in the future of coaching.”