A number of players in Melbourne have taken to social media to complain about their hotel facilities and inability to train properly ahead of the February grand slam compared to the big guns in South Australia.

The likes of world No.1 Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka have been photographed enjoying the sun on the balconies, while they were able to bring much larger entourages to Australia.

They will play an exhibition in Adelaide on January 31, which Tiley said was a trade-off for the South Australian government agreeing to take some of the hotel quarantine overflow when Melbourne ran out of beds.

The Open chief executive said the drawcards - multiple grand slam winners - were always going to get special treatment.

"I get the feeling it is perceived as preferential treatment," Tiley told the media. "But they're the top players in the world and my general rule is if you're at the top of the game, a grand slam champion, it's just the nature of the business.

"You are going to get a better deal."

Sandgren wasn't pleased with Tiley's explanation and took to Twitter on Wednesday to let him know.

"Perceived as? F**k man don't contradict yourself in the same paragraph. Call a spade a spade," the American tweeted.

Sandgren already created a stir after boarding a charter flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne despite returning a positive COVID-19 test.

It was deemed to be viral shedding but he still ended up in 14 days hard lockdown when another passenger tested positive on arrival.

Australian Associated Press