But there will be better news soon. Soon after the ATP offered players the opportunity to take a charter flight from Muscat, Emirates officials arrived in the hotel lobby and began booking more and more flights for guests.
By the time they arrived Patten, all European destinations were fully booked and he ultimately opted for the 8am flight via Cairo the next morning.
The ATP Tour has been criticized by some players for not immediately canceling this week’s Fujairah Challenge in the United Arab Emirates.
“Realistically, I’m not sure what they could do. No one really anticipated that things would escalate to this extent,” Patten said.
“Arnold [Brugues] and Hans Jürgen [Ochs] It was two ATP representatives who were present at the time. Their job is to ensure the smooth running of tennis matches, and here they are responsible for 44 personnel in active combat zones.
“I told these two guys that they did a great job under the circumstances.
“But when the CEO of ATP [Eno Polo] Call and say, “We want to charter a plane for you.” We don’t have any information and you have one and a half hours to make a decision. “
“When he’s drinking coffee on a Zoom call, it shows a real lack of understanding and empathy.
“If the ATP was going to hold the tournament in Dubai, and I certainly know there are a lot of geopolitical tensions there, some kind of crisis management there would have been good, but we haven’t really done that.
“But it’s difficult and it’s a very, very complicated situation.”
Tour sources told BBC Sport their focus is on providing accommodation and support to players at official hotels as they have been told the safest option is to stay where they are.
They prefer flights from Dubai International Airport because of the short drive and uncertainty around border crossings.
