Explosions could be heard outside of the Dubai hotel.
With the United Arab Emirates coming under attack by Iranian missiles, the players who were there for an ATP Challenger tournament in nearby Fujairah did not expect to take to the court.
To their surprise, they were told it was safe to play in the port city about an hour’s drive east of Dubai, home to a key global oil storage and bunkering hub.
“We expected to stay in shelter because that’s what the governments were advising,” Australian player James McCabe told BBC Sport.
The UAE has come under attack after US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which began last Saturday, prompted retaliatory strikes across the region.
The ATP decided on Monday to proceed as planned with the tournament after holding discussions with the local government about its viability.
On Tuesday, players ran from the courts when a nearby oil terminal was set ablaze by debris from a drone attack.
The rest of the tournament was eventually cancelled, along with a second tournament at the same venue next week, leading to worried players desperately asking for support and scrambling for flights.
Two players – Russia’s Marat Sharipov and Uzbekistan’s Sergey Fomin – remain stranded in the UAE, along with their coaches. Everyone else has found a way to leave.
“I don’t understand how it was decided the tournament was safe to go to in the first place,” said McCabe, who was practising on court when he heard explosions and fighter jets overhead in Fujairah.
“A lot of the players didn’t want to play in Fujairah. But the ATP made the decision that it was safe to go.
“After the oil refinery was hit, it was still in the air that we could be going back on the court the next day – that was the scary part.
“It took them 10 hours to cancel the tournament. If the tournament had continued, I would have pulled out.”
The men’s governing body concluded it was safe to play following discussions with local government officials about the risk, with extra security measures put in place and the event being held behind closed doors.
All the players already on the ground in the UAE – meaning the draw was not affected by any travel disruptions – was highlighted as another factor in the decision.
But the knock-on effect has led to huge stress for many of the players, who are mainly ranked outside of the top 200 and far from financially secure as they try to make ends meet in their pursuit of reaching the main ATP Tour.