Felix Auger-Aliassime reflects on 'lucky' Dubai exit

The Canadian No 1 was beaten in straight sets by Daniil Medvedev in the last four of the ATP 500 tournament on Friday and he left Dubai the following day - just hours before chaos erupted across the region.

Israel and the United States launched military action against Iran, who in turn bombed American bases in the Middle East with Dubai one of the places affected.

Airspaces were immediately shut down with hundreds of flights cancelled, leaving the ATP players, officials, staff and journalist who were still active on Saturday stuck in the United Arab Emirates.

Finalists Medvedev and Tallon Griekspoor as well as Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov were among those who were told to remain in their hotels until they received the all-clear to travel.

Auger-Aliassime managed to catch one of the last flights out of Dubai and sadness from his semi-final defeat quickly turned to relif as he told La Presse: "I was very lucky. It's probably the best-timed defeat of my career.

"We took off normally. And things started going wrong around 9:30 or 10:00. After about two hours of flight, several people were watching news on their screens, and I saw that the United States had attacked Iran.

"Upon landing, my family and friends had texted me to ask if I had left, if everything was alright. It was only once I arrived that I realised how lucky I had been to be able to leave. How lucky I was to have left just in time."

Medvedev, Rublev and Khachanov were finally able to leave Dubai on Tuesday, but they were forced to take a lengthy car drive to Oman before taking a private jet to Turkey, after which they will travel to Los Angeles.

They are still hopeful they will make it to California in time for the Indian Wells Open with their first matches scheduled for either Friday or Saturday.

Ninth seed Auger-Aliassime - who has enjoyed a good start to the 2026 season as he won the Open Occitanie and finished runner-up to Alex de Minaur at the Rotterdam Open - also has a bye in the first round and he will face either Gael Monfils or Alexis Alarneau in the second round.

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