Daniil Medvedev Reveals the Chaos While Leaving Dubai After Middle East Strikes

Daniil Medvedev finally arrived in Indian Wells after five days of tumultuous anxiety.

Daniil Medvedev Reveals the Chaos While Leaving Dubai After Middle East Strikes

Daniil Medvedev (Image via X/TENNISCentel)

In Short
  • Daniil Medvedev faced chaos while leaving Dubai due to escalating conflict in the Middle East.
  • He and fellow players traveled to Oman before taking a private jet to Istanbul and then to Los Angeles.
  • The ATP confirmed that the majority of players trapped in the region have successfully departed amid ongoing safety concerns.

Daniil Medvedev has finally arrived in Indian Wells after a tumultuous five-day stretch of waiting and anxiety. The World No.11 was spotted on Wednesday (March 4) hitting balls from the baseline at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, a few hours after arriving in the California desert with his friend Andrey Rublev.

Medvedev won the Dubai Tennis Championships, his second tour-level title of the season, but was stranded with a handful of other players in the country after the Middle East region was thrown into chaos due to the ongoing conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran. The conflict began on Saturday after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated.

In retaliation for the US-Israel strikes, Iran began to hit US bases in the Middle East. On Monday (March 2), a 50-level tournament in the United Arab Emirates in Fujairah was forced to stop play between Daniil Ostapenkov and Hayato Matsuoka after debris from an Iranian drone hit a nearby refinery in the city.

Traditional air travel and airspace were shut down in much of the Middle East region due to the situation. But Medvedev, Rublev, and Karen Khachanov were able to come together and travel to Oman before taking a private jet that flew them to Istanbul, after which they headed to the United States of America.

The three players arrived in Los Angeles in the early hours of Wednesday (March 4) and will take part in the tournament having been handed first-round byes. During an interview with Sofya Tartakova for Bolshe!, Medvedev explained the chaos they went through to get out of the Middle East and fly to the US:

We arrived in Oman by car. Someone was lucky to get there in four hours and 30 minutes, someone drove for nine hours, we drove for seven hours. Our driver couldn’t find his passport. We were the only ones who crossed the border, turned around and came back to the UAE. He found his passport in the parking lot and we drove to Oman. Stayed there for a night, the next day we flew to Istanbul, spent the night in a hotel and flew to Los Angeles. If you tell in all the details, then of course, it’s unusual.

Reports suggest that the conflict in the Middle East will continue for weeks. However, the region is home to top tennis events, including two WTA 1000 tournaments and two ATP 500 events. Also, the WTA Finals take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with several exhibition tournaments hosted in the country.

ATP says the majority of the players trapped in the Middle East have left the region

The ATP has revealed that over 16 players were trapped in the Middle East region as the conflict continues without any sign of a resolution. The players were forced to find a way to leave the countries, working together with the ATP. Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, and Karen Khachanov were among the players to leave the region.

Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev (Image via X/Daniil Medvedev)

Jack Draper, who featured in the Dubai Tennis Championships, admitted in Indian Wells, that his flight was among the last to leave the country before it shut down its airspace on Saturday. The ATP released a statement, stressing that the safety and well-being of players remain a priority and that some players have left the Middle East:

The vast majority of players who were in Dubai have successfully departed today on selected flights. The safety and wellbeing of our players, support teams and staff members remains our highest priority, and we continue to remain in close contact with those affected.

Khachanov will face Joao Fonseca in the second round of the Indian Wells Open. Rublev will take on Canada’s Gabriel Diallo, while Medvedev will battle it out against Alejandro Tabilo or Rafa Jodar. The three Russian players are in the top 20 of the ATP rankings, which means they will meet lower-ranked players until the fourth round.

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