TWENTY-FIVE more players are having to self-isolate in hotel rooms in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open, it was revealed yesterday, taking the overall number up to 72.

Forty-seven had already been told they had to stay in their rooms for 14 days following positive tests for coronavirus on flights that had taken them to the country.

But a similar situation has been identified on a flight arriving from Doha, with one positive case leading to isolation for 25 players.

A statement from organisers said that the affected players will not be able to leave their hotel rooms for 14 days and until they are medically cleared, and will not be eligible to practice.

A fourth positive case has also been recorded from the two flights that carried the initial group of 47 players.

Victoria state’s Covid-19 commissioner Emma Cassar said the test was returned by a broadcast team member on a charter flight from Los Angeles.

Two other people on that flight had earlier tested positive, while another case was detected on a flight from Abu Dhabi.

Cassar said: “It’s important to note that all the four positives all had a negative test result prior to boarding the plane.”

Tournament director Craig Tiley insisted that players were made aware of the risk of being put into isolation on arrival in the country.

But news of the heavy quarantine led a number of players to express shock and anger on social media, and Tiley was sympathetic to those feelings.

“I totally understand the emotion the players are going through right now as well as their objection to the situation,” he said in a TV interview.

“Obviously what has changed over the last several weeks is the new UK strain, which is more infectious, and there’s obviously a great desire by all of us to make sure that doesn’t come into our community.”

Britain’s Heather Watson is among the initial 47, along with grand-slam champions Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber and Bianca Andreescu, whose coach Sylvain Bruneau revealed he was the source of one of the positive tests.