Dubai trio Medvedev, Rublev, Khachanov en route to US thanks to 'special flight'

Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov have completed the first few legs of their mad rush to get to the United States in time for the Indian Wells Open.

The trio competed in the Dubai Tennis Championships last week with the tournament coming to a conclusion on Saturday with Medvedev lifting the title, but celebrations were lowkey as his opponent Tallon Griekspoor withdrew from the final due to injury.

But things took a turn for the worse after that as Israel and the United States’ air strikes on Iran had a ripple effect with the Middle East country retaliating with attacks on American bases across the Gulf, including Dubai.

It led to airspace closures and flight cancellations, resulting in major travel disruptions with those in the United Arab Emirates unable to leave and make their way to California for the next event, the Indian Wells Open.

The ATP confirmed that more than 40 players, staff, officials and journalists were stuck in Dubai with the Russian trio among them.

After initially being urged to remain in their hotels until flights resume, they were then given the all-clear to travel by car and they set off on a gruelling drive to the Oman border before heading to Turkey via a “special flight”.

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According to the Russian site Sports.ru, Rublev’s mother, Marina Marinenko, gave RIA Novosti the following update: “I am waiting for Andrey to call me when he arrives in Istanbul. A special flight was organised for Medvedev, Khachanov and Rublev’s team.

“They flew out of Oman at 4pm, and I am waiting for a call when they arrive in Istanbul, from where the guys will fly to Los Angeles. They said the flight would take six hours and 30 minutes.

“If I’m not mistaken, the ATP helped with the arrangements. They didn’t allow the flight to take off for a long time,” RIA Novosti quoted Marienko as saying.

She later added: “They have arrived in Istanbul.”

Medvedev, Rublev and Khachanov are all set to play in the main draw of the season-opening ATP Masters 1000 event in California with first-round matches starting on Wednesday.

However, there is good news for the trio as they are seeded so have byes into the second round with their matches scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

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