Former Australian Open doubles champion Henry Patten has criticised ATP Tour chief executive Eno Polo for a “real lack of understanding and empathy” after players were stranded in Dubai amid the Middle East conflict. The Briton and his partner Harri Heliovaara won the ATP 500 title in Dubai last Saturday, but were among around 40 players, officials and media forced to stay longer after mass flight cancellations and airspace closures.
The ATP offered a chartered flight from Muscat, Oman, but Patten managed to secure a commercial flight via Cairo and Rome after Emirates representatives came to his hotel. The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) initially said the ATP expected players to pay €5,000 for the charter, offering to cover half, but the ATP later said it fully funded the flights.
Patten praised ATP representatives Arnau Brugues and Hans-Juergen Ochs, but criticised Polo’s approach. “He was sipping his coffee on a Zoom call,” Patten told BBC Sport. “That showed a real lack of understanding and empathy. If the ATP is going to operate tournaments in Dubai, some kind of crisis management on the ground would have been good, which we didn't really receive.”
The ATP also faced criticism for not immediately cancelling a Challenger event in Fujairah, 120km away, which began on Monday and was suspended on Tuesday after air strike sirens halted a match. Patten and Heliovaara endured a failed 14-hour drive to Oman due to border paperwork issues, and Patten described the experience as “mentally quite tough”. He said seeing a drone hit the US consulate near his hotel magnified the stress.
The pair have opted to skip this week’s Indian Wells tournament in California, where they would have been among the favourites, prioritising rest and family time instead.
