Australian TV presenter apologises for ‘offensive’ Djokovic comments
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An Australian TV presenter has publicly apologised to Novak Djokovic and Serbian tennis fans after the 10-time Australian Open champion boycotted his post-match interview on Sunday. Djokovic revealed afterwards that his decision not to answer on-court questions in the customary manner following his fourth-round victory over Jiri Lehecka was in protest at comments made on host broadcaster Channel 9 by Tony Jones.
Jones mocked a group of chanting Djokovic fans behind him ahead of the Serbian’s third-round match by singing: “Novak is overrated, Novak’s a has-been, Novak kick him out.”. Speaking at his press conference on Sunday, Djokovic said Jones had “made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me”.
He added: “Since then, he chose not to issue any public apology. Neither did Channel 9. So, since they’re official broadcasters, I chose not to give interviews for Channel 9.”. Jones addressed the incident ahead of the start of play on Monday, insisting he had apologised privately to Djokovic and that his remarks were meant to be humorous.
“I was made aware on the Saturday morning from Tennis Australia via the Djokovic camp that the Djokovic camp was not happy at all with those comments,” said Jones. “As such, I immediately contacted the Djokovic camp and issued an apology to them for any disrespect that Novak felt that I’d caused. I stand by that apology to Novak.
