Novak Djokovic has put himself at loggerheads with the Australian Open’s host broadcaster by refusing to give any more on-court interviews until he receives an apology from anchorman Tony Jones.
The move was prompted by Djokovic’s disgust at a bizarre, 15-second piece to camera that Jones had performed on Channel Nine on Friday after Djokovic’s previous victory over Tomas Machac.
As the Serbian fans chanted support for Djokovic in the garden area outside Rod Laver Arena, Jones looked out over the assembled flags and said: “Back to Melbourne Park, where you can see the Novak Djokovic fans there in full voice. Yeah, their chants are quite extraordinary. ‘Novak, he’s over-rated! Novak’s a has-been! Novak, kick him out!’ Boy, I’m glad they can’t hear me.”
Have to say, this is one of the strangest things Tony Jones has done on camera.
I know it’s a ‘joke’, but to have such a lack of respect from the host broadcaster is….slightly questionable. 😳pic.twitter.com/iPRUTYZStn
— Todd Scoullar (@ToddScoullar) January 17, 2025
In the interview room after his fourth-round victory, Djokovic gave a statement explaining his refusal to take questions from on-court interviewer Jim Courier.
“Couple days ago the famous sports journalist who works for official broadcaster Channel Nine made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me,” Djokovic said. “And since then, he chose not to issue any public apology. Neither did Channel Nine. So since they’re official broadcasters, I chose not to give interviews for Channel Nine.”
An hour or so earlier, Djokovic’s refusal to perform the conventional post-match interview had drawn a smattering of boos from the 15,000 fans in Rod Laver Arena.
After completing his straightforward 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 victory over the Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka, Djokovic had taken the microphone from Courier and made a brief statement – “Thank you very much for being here tonight, I appreciate your presence and the support, I’ll see you in the next round” – before stalking out of the stadium.
At the time, it was assumed that he had been reacting to some perceived hostility from the fans. There had been a moment, late in the third set, when he complained to chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani that “they’re doing it on purpose, it’s so obvious”.
But whatever Djokovic was noticing, it was not so obvious to others. Later, in the interview room, he was asked whether he had been irritated by the crowd. “Nothing that really stands out or extraordinary,” he replied. “Every match something different happens. I already explained myself the reason why I wasn’t giving an interview is not for the crowd, it was for the Channel Nine situation.”
Even more oddly, it turns out that Jones had already given an apology to the Serbian website sportklub. He was quoted on Saturday as saying “Unfortunately, my ‘humour’ the other night was misinterpreted as an attack on Novak. That was certainly not the case. I’ve been joking with Serbian fans throughout the tournament and this is – at least I thought so – a continuation of that.
“If you watch our morning show, you’ll get an idea of how we work. At no point did I mean to show any disrespect to Novak and I apologise – there was certainly no intention to offend him.”
This was the second time in less than 24 hours that Jones had been discussed in the interview room in a less than flattering manner. The previous instance had involved Danielle Collins, the American player whom Jones had described as “a brat” for baiting fans and slapping her own backside on Thursday night.
“I love this old guy, Tony Jones,” said Collins sarcastically after her third-round exit at the hands of Madison Keys. “Sorry [to] everybody in the room that’s over, like, 70. I just love how he called me a brat. It’s just so Gen Z and Millennial right now with Charli XCX [the singer who made the word ‘brat’ a catchphrase last year].”
Gaffes by Australian frontmen are not unknown at this tournament. The 2013 presentation ceremony featured a memorable line from master of ceremonies Sandy Gordon, who introduced runner-up Li Na with the words “She’s battered, she’s bruised, and she’s quite possibly buggered.”
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