Daniil Medvedev officially arrives at the Indian Wells tennis tournament

A tumultuous five-day stretch for Daniil Medvedev reached its conclusion on Wednesday as the Russian tennis star was where he traditionally is in early March, hitting balls from the baseline at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Medvedev, who was stranded with a handful of other players in Dubai after last week's Dubai Tennis Championships, was in peril of not making it to Indian Wells in time. Traditional air travel has been shut down in much of the Middle East amid days of unrest in the region, but after three days holed up in a hotel, Medvedev and fellow Russian top 20 players Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev were able to get to Oman and then fly to Istanbul before heading to the United States.

Advertisement

Medvedev, others stuck in Dubai get out, plan to play Indian Wells

After all that uncertainty, Medvedev was at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Wednesday night for his scheduled 6 p.m. practice session. He was seen a half an hour before that in the workout lawn, stretching with a trainer and kicking the soccer ball around.

When he turned the corner to go to Practice Court 9, one of only a few not open to the public, he was greeted by a small cluster of fans who wished him well and told him they were happy he made it. He responded with a heart-felt thank you and proceeded with a normal tennis practice session.

Advertisement

Rublev was also spotted on the grounds going through a practice session with a hitting partner. Khachanov is reportedly also in Indian Wells.

The air travel shut downs began after the United States and Israel began striking Iran Feb. 28 in a campaign that killed the nation's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and dozens of top officials and hit more than 1,000 targets inside the country, President Donald Trump said. Iran has retaliated with strikes against U.S. military bases, Israel and other nations in the Middle East.

Rublev and Khachanov play their first matches on Friday. Rublev will face Canada's Gabriel Diallo and Khachanov will face either Joao Fonseca or Raphael Collignon. Medvdev will begin his BNP Paribas Open against either Alejandro Tabilo or Rafael Jodar on Saturday.

Rublev and Medvedev were supposed to be part of the Eisenhower Cup, a mixed doubles Tiebreak Tens event on Tuesday night in Indian Wells, but they were replaced in the event by Learner Tien and Alexander Bublik.

Click here to read article