Indian Wells withdrawals as Medvedev could follow amid Dubai Chaos | Tennis | Sport

With Indian Wells starting in just a matter of days, it’s a race against time for some tennis stars to make their way to California for the tournament. A number of players, including World No. 11 Daniil Medvedev, are currently stuck in Dubai due to tensions in the Middle East.

He is now one of the players stuck in the country after the United States and Israel launched an assault on Iran. That prompted Iran to respond by targeting US military bases across the Middle East, including in Dubai.

It has caused the country’s airspace to be closed, with no flights leaving the airport. In an update on Sunday, Medvedev said: “Here, of course, the situation is unusual, but the only thing that happens is the airspace is closed, of course. That is, no one knows when we will be able to take off.

“It is not clear whether it will last long or not. Therefore, we are just waiting, let’s say, what will happen next in the next hours, days.”

The good news for the player is that he will have some extra time to make the journey, as he receives a bye into the second round. He therefore won’t be in action until either Friday or Saturday.

Other players in a similar situation include Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev.

While there remains uncertainty over whether they will be forced to withdraw from the tournament, there have already been 15 players confirming that they won’t be taking part, with most due to injury. Here’s a look at the confirmed withdrawals so far.