International tennis players and staff have touched down in Melbourne ahead of next month’s Australian Open. The first of 15 charter flights carrying tennis players and officials for the tournament, starting on February 8, landed at Tullamarine’s Melbourne Jet Base about 6pm on January 14. The Doha flight arrivals were greeted by airport staff and biosecurity officials wearing personal protective equipment including masks and face shields, before being whisked away to hotel quarantine. More private jets from Doha, Abu Dhabi, Los Angeles, Singapore and Dubai will land in the Victorian capital over the next 36 hours. American world no.50 Tennys Sandgren, who was allowed to board his LA flight despite testing positive for coronavirus this week, was expected to arrive just before 3am Friday AEDT. The former Australian Open quarter-finalist was deemed to be no longer contagious and a case of viral shedding, having been struck down with COVID-19 in …