Australian broadcaster Tony Jones has apologized to Novak Djokovic and Serbian tennis fans for comments he made on television on Friday night, which the 37-year-old deemed “offensive and insulting”.
Djokovic refused to make the habit An on-court interview after his fourth-round win over Jiri Lehecka on Sunday A public apology from Channel 9 to Jones and the Australian broadcast rights holders is expected.
The 10-time Australian Open champion revealed in his post-match press conference that his anger was directed not at the crowd but at the announcer after an incident before the third-round match in which announcer Jones mocked a group of Djokovic fans chanting behind him. who gathered outside the Broadcasting Pavilion at Melbourne Park on Friday, singing: “Novak is overrated. Novak has been. Kick him out.”
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Novak Djokovic has explained that he will boycott the interviews given at the Australian Open until he apologizes to the Australian television channel 9.
In an interview with the channel on Monday, Jones said he believed the comments were “ridiculous” and he immediately apologized privately to the “Djokovic camp” when he realized they were not taken in humour.
“I can stand by that apology to Novak,” he said. “I should also say that the disrespectful attitude towards Serbian fans spread in many ways.
“We got on well with the Serbian fans and there were jokes, and I thought what I was doing was an extension of that joke. Obviously, it wasn’t interpreted that way.
“I feel like I let the Serbian fans down.” Jones said the one comment he particularly regretted was “kicking him out,” which he said could only be interpreted as a reference to Djokovic’s back-to-back ban from Australia in early 2022. regarding his Covid vaccination status.
“It pissed off Novak, which I totally understand now,” Jones said.
“It was an unfortunate situation, it was a personal anger for Novak, it was quite clearly a personal anger for me as well.”
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from seventh seed Djokovic, who plays Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
On Sunday, Djokovic said he had not received a public apology from the broadcaster and would continue to boycott them until he did.
Djokovic later posted a message on social media reiterating why he refused to talk.
“A few days ago, a well-known sports journalist who works for the official channel of Australia’s Channel 9 mocked Serbian fans and also made offensive and insulting comments about me,” Djokovic said.
“And since then he has chosen not to apologize publicly, nor has Channel 9. So, as they are official broadcasters, I have chosen not to do interviews for Channel 9.
“I have nothing against Jim Courier or the Australian public. It was a very awkward situation for me today. I decided to say something to the crowd. It was not the time and place for me to explain what I was doing at the moment.
“I leave it to Channel 9 to handle it as they see fit.”
Former Wimbledon finalist Pat Rafter believes the controversy could work in the Serb’s favour, saying: “I think Novak has a pretty good headspace, he’s beautiful and he’s angry. He plays his best tennis when he’s angry.”
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