Middle East conflict forces tennis authorities to start considering backup plan for 2027 with ATP and WTA tournaments threatened

The ongoing security concerns in the Middle East are causing havoc with scheduling in many sports. Tennis will soon need to combat these threats with a backup plan of action in place when the sport returns to action in that part of the world.

At the end of February earlier this year, conflict broke out with Iran at the centre of it. It came right at the end of the Middle East swing, with there still being some tournaments that needed to be completed.

It was a turbulent period for many tennis talents. Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev were among the names stranded in Dubai waiting for airspace to reopen so they could leave the country with the Sunshine swing close to starting at that point. They managed to reach Istanbul before flying to North America.

Others were not so lucky. Overall, around 40 players, staff and media were left stranded in Dubai after missile strikes on the United Arab Emirates in the final days of that specific tournament. The women's WTA action had finished by then with a brace of WTA 1000 tournaments having been done and dusted before the drama occurred.

Both Doha and Dubai should be hosting these events next February for the men and women right after the Australian Open. Getting flashbacks to the prior events that happened, tour chiefs will not want to go through that ordeal again, conjuring up a plan to avoid this scenario if possible.

According to The i Paper, there have been some other countries put forward as replacements for these WTA events. Singapore is one, while Australia would make sense for the players who do not have to travel far to compete.

There have been no formal offers as of yet. While the preference is for the ATP events to be played out in Europe, no options are currently on the table as of yet.

It will be trickier for the WTA to substitute in a different location due to them being WTA 1000 tournaments compared to the ATP 500 events in Doha and Dubai with a 28-player difference along with the costs involved.

There are also problems to deal with in 2026 as well as 2027 with the Six Kings Slam still set to go ahead. Set to be led by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, the lucrative event held in the Saudi Arabian capital city of Riyadh is still poised to go ahead. Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Alex De Minaur will also feature with a guaranteed $1.5m (£1.12m) appearance fee for all involved.

This will be watched upon closely by the ATP and WTA to see whether it is safe to compete, thus strengthening their case not to have the Doha and Dubai events played out somewhere else.

Time will tell whether a solution is found or even necessary. These reports in the Middle East have put tennis to the side for many, specifically for those individuals stranded in Dubai earlier this year. One thing the WTA do not have to worry about is the WTA Finals. Set to be in Riyadh, the third and final year of its contract had been terminated, with Indian Wells in California set to stand in for the end-of-year event. Ultimately, the ATP and WTA have no intention of risking the welfare or safety of their players, possibly leading to radical but temporary changes in 2027.