Melbourne, Jan 20 (IANS) The host broadcaster Channel Nine has issued an apology to tennis legend Novak Djokovic after its presenter Tony Jones mocked the 24-time Grand Slam winner and his Serbian fans at the Australian Open. This led the Serb to boycott the customary on-court interview after his fourth-round win on Sunday.
In his fourth-round fixture, Djokovic defeated Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) to stay on track for his 100th career title, and record 25th major. But the Serbian great opted not to give a customary on-court interview, revealing that he would not speak to the host broadcaster until he received an apology.
On Friday’s live broadcast, host Jones sang to the crowd, live on air. “Novak, he’s overrated,” Jones sang. “Novak’s a has-been. Novak, kick him out. Boy, I’m glad they can’t hear me. Anyway, let’s get onto the tennis”. That remark did not sit well with Djokovic and the 10-time Australian Open Champion, boycotted the on-court interview after Sunday’s win.
“I’d like to just clarify the reason why it was not conducted on the court,” Djokovic explained. “A couple of days ago the famous sports journalist who works for an official broadcaster here in Australia made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me. And since then he chose not to issue any public apology, nor did Nine.”
On Monday, Channel Nine issued an apology to Djokovic, as quoted by The Guardian, “Nine would like to apologise to Novak Djokovic for any offence caused from comments made during a recent live cross. No harm was intended towards Novak or his fans. We look forward to further showcasing his Australian Open campaign at Melbourne Park.”
Earlier in the morning, Jones took to Nine’s Today to address the issue publicly. He considered his on-air remarks “banter” or “humour” but claimed he had already sent an apology to the Djokovic camp on Saturday as soon as he found out “the Djokovic camp was not happy with those comments”.
“I considered it to be humour, which is consistent with most things I do. Having said that, I was made aware on Saturday morning from Tennis Australia via the Djokovic camp that the Djokovic camp was not happy at all with those comments.
“As such, I immediately contacted the Djokovic camp and issued an apology to them. And as I stand here now, I stand by that apology to Novak. I do apologise if he felt that I disrespected him. If I could turn back time, and I know we’ve all got PhDs in hindsight, the one thing where I overstepped the mark … is the last comment I made,” he said.
“I can stand here and put whatever spin on that, but it can only be interpreted as a throwback to the Covid years when he was kicked out. Now, that has angered Novak, which I completely understand,” Jones told Nine.
Djokovic will face number three seed Carlos Alcaraz in a blockbuster quarterfinal on Tuesday.
–IANS
bc/
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