August 24, 2025; Flushing, New York, USA; Daniil Medvedev gestures after scoring against Benjamin Bonzi (FRA) (not pictured) on the first day of the 2025 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Image Former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev and two other Russian players are set to leave Dubai to play at the BNP Paribas Open after US and Israeli attacks on Iran threw travel plans into disarray, according to multiple reports.
Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov left the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday along with Medvedev. Rublev’s mother said the three drove to Oman and flew to Istanbul.
Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday with an emphatic win over injured Dutchman Talon Griggspur.
The ATP confirmed Wednesday that some of its tour players escaped from areas where airspace was closed due to tensions in the Middle East following Saturday’s airstrikes against Iran. Dubai was one of the nearby areas affected by Iran’s retaliatory attacks.
“The majority of players who were in Dubai successfully departed on select flights today,” the ATP said in a statement on Wednesday. “The safety and well-being of our players, support team and staff is our top priority and we remain in close contact with those affected.”
Several other ATP players are reportedly stranded in Dubai following the weekend attacks. One of them was Griekspoor, who missed the Dubai final with a left hamstring injury. De Telegraaf newspaper reported Wednesday that Griekspoor was able to fly to Milan.
Doubles finalists Harri Heliovaara (Finland), Henry Patten (Great Britain), Mate Pavic (Croatia) and Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador) are also reportedly stranded in Dubai.
Heliovaara wrote in a blog post on Wednesday that he and his doubles partner Patten had finally boarded a plane safely leaving the region after a failed attempt to reach Oman to catch a flight to Helsinki.
“We took a flight to Milan and are in Italian airspace as I write this. We will probably arrive in Finland on Wednesday evening,” Heliovaara wrote in Finnish on her personal blog.
The status and location of defending Indian Wells doubles champions Pavic and Arevalo are unclear.
According to the Montreal Gazette, Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime departed on Saturday on one of the last flights to leave Dubai. His agent, Olivier van Lindonk, told the newspaper that Auger-Aliassime had arrived in Indian Wells.
Main draw play in Indian Wells began Wednesday, but all three Russian players received first-round byes due to seeding. Medvedev is seeded 11, Khachanov is seeded 16, and Rublev is seeded 17.
Medvedev and Rublev were forced to withdraw from the Eisenhower Cup mixed doubles exhibition in Indian Wells on Tuesday night.
Medvedev was due to team up with Russian WTA star Mira Andreyeva, and was replaced by Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik. Learner Tien replaced Rublev along with fellow American Amanda Anisimova.
–Field level media
