{"id":502244,"date":"2026-03-04T01:13:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T01:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/502244\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T01:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T01:13:10","slug":"mens-tennis-tour-cancels-two-uae-tournaments-withdraws-5800-charter-flight-proposal-for-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/502244\/","title":{"rendered":"Men\u2019s tennis tour cancels two UAE tournaments, withdraws $5,800 charter flight proposal for players"},"content":{"rendered":"

The men\u2019s tennis tour has canceled two tournaments in the United Arab Emirates, following a security alert that interrupted one of them Tuesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The ATP Tour then told players signed up for the two events in Fujairah that it would \u201cpotentially\u201d be organizing a charter flight out of the region for \u20ac5,000 ($5,800) per passenger, in an email seen by\u00a0The Athletic. The flight was said to be leaving at 3 p.m. local time Thursday, from Muscat in Oman, which is a three-hour drive from Fujairah and would require a border crossing.<\/p>\n

In a second email, sent just under two hours later and also seen by The Athletic, it said it was not directly organizing a flight directly, and would instead explore \u201cavailable travel options with third-party providers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement confirming the cancelations, which was sent after the two emails, a spokesperson said that \u201cthe safety and wellbeing of our players and tournament personnel is our highest priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayers remain on site and are being fully supported, with accommodation and all immediate needs covered while onward travel arrangements are explored.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first of two Challenger Tour tournaments in Fujairah, a city around 120 miles across the U.A.E. from Dubai, was suspended Tuesday at around 1 p.m. local time.<\/p>\n

Three matches were in progress when play stopped, with footage of the match between Hayato Matsuoka and Daniil Ostapenkov showing the players, umpire, and ball kids rushing to leave the court after they were told to \u201cget inside the building please.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve watched a lot of challenger tennis. This is the scariest thing I\u2019ve seen on court pic.twitter.com\/yckUehRnkS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 RacketRisk (@RacketRisk) March 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

UAE authorities later said that shrapnel landed at the Fujairah Oil Terminal, around eight miles from the Tennis Country Club Fujairah. The authorities said its armed forces had intercepted a drone attack, adding that no casualties were reported.<\/p>\n

Vladyslav Orlov, the Ukrainian world No. 268, described hearing jets during his second-round qualifying victory over Ronit Karki Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was playing I heard the sounds of the jets flying here and there,\u201c Orlov said in a video posted on social media. \u201dAnd there is smoke going here next to the mountain, so not very safe here right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ilya Ivashka, who was due to play his final qualifying match for the event on Wednesday, shared a screenshot of the email on Instagram, with the caption: \u201cno words needed @atptour\u201d followed by three hand-clapping emojis.<\/p>\n

Marat Sharipov, who was playing in the singles and doubles events, wrote on Instagram: \u201cThank you @atpchallenger for arranging us a charter for ONLY 5000 euros! That\u2019s slightly more than the prize money after taxes for winning the tournament, but l appreciate the gesture!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Professional Tennis Players\u2019 Association, which organized an ongoing antitrust lawsuit against the tours and Grand Slams, then pledged to pay half of the hypothetical fee if the ATP Tour would match the other half, despite the tour\u2019s clarification that no such plan would take place.<\/p>\n

The PTPA described itself as \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d by the decision to hold the tournament in the first place, and the ATP and the tournament organizers did not respond when asked why the first Fujairah tournament had gone ahead in the first place. It began Monday, two days after the retaliatory strikes on the UAE began.<\/p>\n

Finn Bass, the British world No. 296 who had originally been scheduled to play in the tournament, expressed his disbelief at it taking place.<\/p>\n

Posting on X on Tuesday afternoon before the cancellation, he wrote: \u201cWas meant to be playing there this week, cannot believe they\u2019ve gone ahead and not cancelled the event. Madness.\u201d<\/p>\n

The players and staff involved in the tournaments now face the challenging task of trying to leave the country, with most flights still grounded and changes and cancellations fluid. Flights bound for Dubai\u2019s airport, which was damaged by a missile over the weekend, were held Tuesday after fresh interceptions in nearby airspace.<\/p>\n

Those who were involved in the latter stages of the ATP 500 Dubai Tennis Championships, including top-20 players Daniil Medvedev<\/a> and Andrey Rublev, have been trying to get flights out since Saturday.<\/p>\n

Both are entered for the BNP Paribas Open, a 1,000-level event \u2014 the rung below the Grand Slams \u2014 in Indian Wells, Calif., which starts Wednesday. As seeded players, Medvedev and Rublev will not play until Friday at the earliest.<\/p>\n