Tennis LIVE: ATP stars caught up in Middle East chaos as Indian Wells

Taylor Fritz claimed Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic received preferential treatment over the weekend.

“But also you’re separated in the draw, so at the same time, Carlos and Jannik are going to be split, so on one day, Carlos is going to get his pick, on this next day, Jannik will get his.”

Fritz, who has only played alongside Alcaraz, Sinner and Djokovic at this year’s Australian Open, received a backlash for his comments.

But responding to the backlash on social media, the 28-year-old American claimed he wasn’t complaining but rather just explaining how things work.

He said: “You dumb? How can anyone watch this and think I’m complaining? I’m answering a question about the scheduling, priority players have earned the right to request and most of the time play in the slots they want, that’s how it is and nothing is wrong with that.”

Before adding: “I’m not sure why you are acting like I am complaining about this? I got asked about how this stuff works by a fan on my stream and answered accordingly.

“The better and more decorated players will usually have more say in when they play, as they should, they have earned that right.

“Me getting on stream and thoughtfully answering questions for fans isn’t something I am doing for me, but for the fans that support me enough to want to come in and ask me questions live. If people want to misinterpret and turn the things I say against me and turn it into unwarranted hate towards me then maybe it’s not worth it.”

Holger Rune’s mother has given an update on the Danish star’s situation in Qatar.

Rune is one of a number of tennis stars who have been caught up in the conflict in the Middle East.

According to Danish outlet TV2 Sport, Rune and his team had been due to leave Doha on a flight to Los Angeles on Sunday morning, but they remain stuck in Qatar's capital.

And speaking to TV2 Sport, Aneke Rune, who is also the Dane’s mother, said: “It’s been a wild night. We didn’t get much sleep.

“It all seems more brutal at night with the fireballs in the sky and repeated explosions.

“We spent a lot of time at the reception, and they are super sweet, so in the end we went to our rooms and slept.

“But Holger was really scared last night. There’s a lot of brutal news and pictures of attacks all around us.

“Our flight is, of course, cancelled, and we now have no idea when we can get out. We have to try to go shopping and stock up.”

Before she continued: “I know that the election campaign has started at home, but it is quite sad that there is absolutely no response from Denmark to citizens trapped in the Middle East.

“I can see on X that the UK and other countries have a special number that their citizens can call for advice and guidance, which was communicated via Qatar Airways.

“We are on the famous Dane list, but we have not heard anything. We know that there are huge traffic jams in Oman to get out of their airport, which is the only place where flights depart from the Middle East at the time of writing.

“But since there have been continued attacks this morning, and missile debris is falling from the sky, it is not exactly 12-15 hours in traffic jams that you want to be trapped in.”

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