ATP Tour doubles star Harri Heliovaara has detailed just how difficult it was for some tennis players to leave Dubai amid the growing conflict in the Middle East.
Finland’s Heliovaara was in action at the Dubai Tennis Championships last week and lifted the doubles title alongside long-time partner Henry Patten, the pair beating Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic in the final.
However, around 50 ATP Tour players and staff members were then left stranded in Dubai due to the development of war in the Middle East, with Heliovaara and Patten joined by the likes of Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev in being stranded in the city.
Medvedev, Rublev, and Dubai resident Karen Khachanov all safely exited the city by road, driving to Oman before taking a private jet flight to Turkey on Tuesday.
Former Australian Open and Wimbledon doubles champion Heliovaara also attempted a similar manoeuvre, alongside his family and his doubles partner Patten.
However, writing on his personal blog, the Finn revealed that his first attempt to leave Dubai ultimately failed.
He wrote (translated from Finnish): “Greetings from Dubai. We are still here, although we have tried very hard to find ways to get out and today we already drove for seven hours and ended up back at the starting point.
“However, the situation in Dubai is completely under control at our hotel, so there is nothing to worry about. So we will continue to stay here and try to get out some other way later.”
Tennis News
ATP Tour gives update on Dubai stars and makes U-turn after asking $5,800 from players to leave UAE
Coco Gauff left worried as her coach is ‘stuck’ in Middle East amid ‘unnecessary’ conflict
Heliovaara detailed that he had then attempted to leave Dubai by road, alongside his family and Patten, though they faced a string of complications at the UAE-Omani border.
He commented: “After a little over an hour and a half of driving, we reached the border with Oman, but problems arose at the very first checkpoint, when our car’s papers didn’t contain the correct permits to take cars with UAE plates out of the country.”
It briefly appeared that Heliovaara, his family, and Patten would be able to leave on an alternate vehicle on the other side of the border.
However, the group ultimately faced further complications — including uncertainty about whether they could all actually pass through — and the Finnish ace revealed how a three-hour delay forced the group to head back to Dubai.
“But by this point, we had been at the border for almost three hours, and catching our flight from Muscat was impossible. And at that point, practically all other flights for the coming days from Muscat airport were completely full.
“So the option was to cross the border and find a new Omani ride to continue the three hours to Muscat without information about onward connections and without help from ATP, or return to Dubai, where the hotel would surely be ready and help from ATP and the race organisers was waiting. We chose the latter.”
Heliovaara, Patten, and the rest of their entourage were then forced into an anxious wait as to whether and when they would be able to leave Dubai.
However, the 36-year-old shared good news on the blog post on Wednesday, revealing that he, his family, and his doubles partner had all managed to leave Dubai via Milan.
He wrote: “EDIT: Right after the blog post, we got tickets for the early morning flight to Milan and are now at Dubai airport, fingers crossed that we will get home.
“EDIT2: We got on the flight to Milan, and as I write this, we are in Italian airspace. We will probably get to Finland on Wednesday evening.”
Heliovaara and Patten are still projected to be the fifth seeds in the Indian Wells men’s doubles draw this fortnight, though it is unknown as to whether they will actually play following their ordeal.
Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.