Daniil Medvedev’s luck on the tennis court has been on an upswing in recent weeks, but that hasn’t extended to his travel between tournaments.
After winning the ATP 500 in Dubai last month, the former world No. 1 was among more than three dozen players and people involved with the tournament who were temporarily stranded in the region as fiery conflict erupted between the U.S., Israel and Iran, leading to a delay in their arrival to the BNP Paribas Open.
The crew eventually arrived after traveling by ground from Dubai to Oman, where they were able catch a special flight out to Indian Wells. And while Medvedev shook off the less-than-ideal preparation for a big tournament en route to a runner-up finish, upsetting Carlos Alcaraz along the way, more adversity was just around the corner.
On Tuesday, Medvedev took to X, formerly Twitter, to reveal that United lost not just his bags, but those of his entire team, and plead his case to the airline.
“Hi United … need a little help,” he wrote. “Flew from [Palm Springs] to Florida yesterday and none of my bags arrived. Kind of need them to play in the Miami Open …. can you help?”
While Medvedev quickly received a response, it wasn’t to his satisfaction. An automated agent addressed the case like a standard lost luggage claim, prompting some humorous replies from Medvedev and his followers alike.
“The amount of AI help has been overwhelming,” the 30-year-old quipped, responding with facepalm and shrugging emojis, while one follower appreciated that he “was treated as sh—ily as the rest of us.”
Eventually, though, all was resolved: First, Medvedev’s bags were located, and a day later, those of the rest of his team.
Now back into the Top 10, Medvedev comes into the second leg of the Sunshine Double with an 18-4 match record this season, a total he didn’t reach until June 12 months ago.