Holger Rune, Alexander Bublik, and British player Finn Bass have shared updates on the Middle East, which is currently facing tensions amid the situation involving the United States and Israel.
The ATP 500 tournament, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, has concluded with the Russian star Daniil Medvedev taking home the title after the final’s opponent, Tallon Griekspoor, withdrew ahead of their match due to a left hamstring injury.
Holger Rune, Alexander Bublik, and Finn Bass Share Update Amid Conflict Escalating in the Middle East
The Middle East is currently facing conflict and a crisis amid escalating tensions between the United States, Israel, and Iran, which has also had consequences for the players who were in the impacted countries.
Rune, who suffered an Achilles injury during his semifinal at the 2025 Stockholm Open, is presently in Doha for his rehab. The 22-year-old shared an update on his situation on X, “Doha today. We are all safe.”
Doha today. We are all safe pic.twitter.com/eazblnR0Yx
— Holger Rune (@holgerrune2003) February 28, 2026
Bublik, who concluded his Dubai Tennis Championship’s singles run with a round of 16 loss to Griekspoor, had reflected regarding his flight, as per r/tennis’ recent Reddit post, “We were flying out of Dubai, thinking, ‘God willing, we’ll have a peaceful flight.’ We had just left Iranian airspace when I opened the news, and saw this.”
Apart from them, the British player Bass, who competes on the ATP Challenger Tour and the International Tennis Federation Tour, recently faced more than 3 hours of delay on his flight to Dubai, which was later cancelled.
In his Instagram story, he wrote, sharing a glimpse of the plane, “Flight cancelled been stuck on plane for 3.5 hours.”
British tennis player Finn Bass 🇬🇧 waits 3.5 hours on board a plane to Dubai to play ATP Challenger level tennis.
Flight cancelled due to the ongoing tensions and air space closures in the Middle East.
Stay safe everyone! pic.twitter.com/Tm59keExC1
— Chris Goldsmith (@TheTennisTalker) February 28, 2026
The Dubai Media Office has also recently shared the update via their X post, mentioning, “Dubai Airports confirms that all flight operations at Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International (DWC) are suspended until further notice.”
Dubai Airports confirms that all flight operations at Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International (DWC) are suspended until further notice.
Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport at this time and to contact their respective airlines…
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) February 28, 2026
They continued, “Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport at this time and to contact their respective airlines directly for the latest updates regarding their flights. We appreciate the cooperation of our guests. Further updates will be provided as we continue to monitor the situation.”
Medvedev’s representative, meanwhile, noted that they were trying to get the player out of the UAE ahead of Indian Wells. Due to the ongoing conflict, players who are in Middle Eastern countries could face significant delays in their upcoming tournaments.
