'We want to get out as soon as possible': Players, officials, journalists stranded in Dubai

(Getty/Fadel Senna)

The tennis circuit has been caught up in the ongoing war between Israel and Iran, as players, coaches, officials, and journalists are still in the UAE.

On Saturday night (AEDT), Iran fired missiles and drones towards Israel in an act of retaliation, but US bases located in parts of the Middle East also became targets, bringing countries such as the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Jordan into the conflict.

All of this occurred at the back end of Dubai's ATP 500 tournament, with Daniil Medvedev winning the title via a walkover.

However, with missiles intercepted and Dubai International Airport severely damaged by strikes, the world's busiest airport was forced to shut down as thousands of passengers were left stranded.

According to Spanish outlet Marca, 41 people linked to the Dubai Tennis Championships (players, coaches & workers) are still stuck in the country. All tennis players have been guaranteed flight reservations for Tuesday, as long as air space is reopened. Options of driving to Oman/Saudi Arabia were debated, but players decided against doing so.

Tennis journalist Reem Abulleil, who is on the ground for the Dubai event that has concluded, provided an update on the developing situation.

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Doubles specialist Harri Heliövaara took to his own personal blog to share his experience.

"The missiles and drones fired from Iran are, of course, preventing civilian flights, so we hope that they will soon decrease. However, the location of our hotel right next to Dubai airport allows for a quick departure if such an opportunity arises at some point," he wrote in Finnish.

"We already had a couple of different reservations made for this day, but they were naturally cancelled. The next tickets are for Monday afternoon, and there are also tickets for Tuesday on reserve. The instructions from ATP have been very clear so far; the safest thing to do is to stay at the hotel and wait.

"You can leave the UAE 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 (Oman), 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 journey to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia is over 10 hours, and the road after the border is quite bad. So not an ideal route without proper preparations.

"However, we have the situation in Dubai quite well under control. The organisers are offering hotel accommodation. 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."

In an interview after the final, former world No.1 Daniil Medvedev said: "The airspace is closed. No one knows when we'll be able to take off. It's not clear whether it will last long or not. We're just waiting."

The Indian Wells tournament in California, an ATP and WTA 1000 event, kicks off later this week.

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