The tennis world has also felt the impact of the ongoing conflict between Iran, Israel and the United States. It all started when the two countries launched missiles on multiple areas in Iran, and the latter responded by striking US bases in various parts of the Middle East.

Several tennis players and officials are stranded in Dubai and are scheduled to play in the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the main draw of which is around the corner. These include the likes of Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev.

According to MARCA, the ATP Tour called in an emergency meeting on March 1 as to what could be done to get the tennis personnel out of Dubai. It has been claimed that they are offering two by-road options out of the city, namely, a drive to Muscat and one to Riyadh. While airports in Oman are closed, flights are operational in Riyadh.

Harri Heliovaara on ATP’s instructions to tennis players and officials stranded in Dubai

Finnish doubles star Harri Heliovaara, who won the men’s doubles tournament in Dubai, recently wrote about ATP’s instructions to the tennis players who are yet to leave Dubai. The two-time Grand Slam doubles champion said that the ATP has informed them that the safest option is to remain in Dubai for the time being.

The 36-year-old also explained that while there were optons to travel to Oman and Saudi Arabia by road, the journeys wouldn’t be easy. Heliovaara stated:

“The instructions from the ATP have been very clear so far, the safest thing to do is to stay at the hotel and wait. You can leave the United Arab Emirates by land to Oman or Saudi Arabia, where the airspace is open at least for the moment, but there would be no simple journey there either.”

“It is about five hours to Muscat, but according to the information we received, there are bad traffic jams at the border, and in addition to that, arranging suitable transport is difficult, because a car with UAE plates is not allowed to drive into Oman without a permit, and you cannot cross the border on foot, in which case you could continue the journey with another car,” the Finn added.

Heliovaara also said why the journey to Riyadh would not be ideal, writing:

“The journey to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia is over ten hours and the road after the border is quite bad. So not an ideal route without proper preparations.”

The Finnish player also said that the current situation in Dubai was under control and was hopeful of things getting better.

“However, we have the situation in Dubai quite well under control, the organizers are offering hotel accommodation and full board, and otherwise everything seems to be working pretty normally here. Of course, we want to get out as soon as possible, but sometimes the best thing to do is just wait. The situation will definitely get better from here. And then we’ll have time for the Indian Wells tournament if we have time,” the two-time Grand Slam doubles champion wrote.

Earlier, Holger Rune shared images from Doha when the airstrikes were taking place. The Dane’s mother even said that he was scared.