Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev forced out of Eisenhower Cup exhibition as.Indian Wells journey continues
ATPTuesday, 03 March 2026 at 09:15
While the draw was confirmed for Indian Wells last night, three names who were included are still not certainties and those are Russian trio Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov who were stranded in Dubai with no real route to Indian Wells amid the current conflict.
Before the Indian Wells draw, it was mooted on Monday that they would travel to Oman as per Marca and then get a private jet to Turkey or Armenia and then fly to California from those countries but in a sure fire sign that they are not yet out of the woods is that Rublev and Medvedev will not play the Eisenhower Cup which is due to take place on Tuesday 3 March.
Medvedev won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and Rublev reached the semi-finals. Both likely were set to travel together as they are close friends off the court but amid all of this, Medvedev got a walkover in said final anyway so he could've feasibly got out in hindsight before the airspace shut.
Medvedev and Rublev were confirmed among a group of tennis players including multiple in the doubles sphere who failed to make it out in time while Khachanov is an interesting one as some say he is still in the UAE while others claim he is due to practice at Indian Wells on Tuesday.
Anisimova and Andreeva get new partners
Medvedev and Rublev were due to play in the Eisenhower Cup - a mixed doubles exhibition which is a huge part of the Indian Wells pre tournament buzz and is one of the main proponents of the US Open mixed doubles in that prior to that, it was one of the only chances that big names got to team up and play together in mixed.
But both perhaps unsurprisingly even if they got to the country have now had to withdraw. Mirra Andreeva was due to team up with Medvedev but she now partners Alexander Bublik. But Amanda Anisimova will also have a new partner with the American ace having an all USA team with Learner Tien now following Rublev's withdrawal.
As it stands though both have a tiny modicum of time on their hands. They won't play until at least Saturday anyway. Medvedev will be facing either Alejandro Tabilo or Rafa Jodar in the second round.
16th seed Khachanov takes on either Joao Fonseca or Rafael Collignon while 17th seed Rublev will face off against one of Mattia Bellucci or Gabriel Diallo. Dubai opened their airspace on Monday evening but only limited flights were scheduled for the next few days. Harri Heliovaara, Henry Patten, Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic are among those also stranded but won't start their campaigns until at least Sunday anyway so have another day also to get out.
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