Tennis players holed up in Dubai after Iranian strikes

2026-03-02 - 21:34

The players were offered a glimmer of hope when Dubai Airports announced ‘limited’ flights would resume on Monday evening. (EPA Images pic) PARIS: A “small number” of tennis players remain stuck in Dubai following a men’s tournament last week owing to the war in the Middle East, the tour’s governing body, the ATP said on Monday. Russian Daniil Medvedev, who won the singles title on Saturday, is among those who have been unable to leave the city because of the attacks from Iranian missiles and drones. “The health, safety and well-being of our players, staff and tournament personnel are our priority,” the ATP said in a statement published on X, formerly Twitter. “We can confirm that a small number of players and team members remain in Dubai... They are being accommodated in the official tournament hotels. “We are in direct communication with those affected.” Finnish player Harri Heliovaara, who won the doubles alongside British player Henry Patten, wrote on his blog on Sunday “much of the airspace in the surrounding areas is closed” in response to the Iranian strikes. The Finn estimated that around 30 people in total were being housed in a hotel close to the airport. “We’re just calmly waiting for things to improve,” he added. “Of course we want to leave as soon as possible, but sometimes the best thing is just to wait.” The players were offered a glimmer of hope when Dubai Airports announced “limited” flights would resume on Monday evening. Emirates and low-cost carrier flydubai both said they would resume some flights Monday evening. Etihad Airways, which operates flights from Abu Dhabi, said it would resume operations on Tuesday. “Up till now the ATP’s instructions were very clear: stay in the hotel and wait,” said Heliovaara on his blog. The 36-year-old, who has won Wimbledon (2024) and the Australian Open (2025) doubles titles, said going by road, to either Oman or Saudi Arabia, was impractical. Targeted since Saturday by American and Israeli strikes, Iran has responded by sending drones and missiles toward several countries in the region, including the UAE. Despite the numerous explosions heard since the beginning of the war in Dubai, the doubles final was played on Saturday and the trophy ceremony went ahead for the singles event. The Dubai ATP 500 was the last in a series of tournaments on the men’s and women’s tours before they shift to California on Wednesday for the Masters and WTA 1000 at Indian Wells. Challenger tournaments, on the second tier of the professional circuit, are still scheduled to be held in Fujairah, in the northeast of the Emirates. The ATP responded to AFP’s enquiry about the two successive Challenger tournaments – March 2-8 and March 9-15 – by directing it to their tweet, which gave no indication of their status. However, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) told AFP the two World Tennis Tour tournaments, third-tier events set for March 16-28 at Fujairah, in the north east of the Emirates, had been “postponed”.