An Australian reporter has apologised to tennis star Novak Djokovic after a bit of “banter” resulted in the Serbian refusing an interview with television station Channel Nine—the main broadcaster hosting the Australian Open.
Reporter Tony Jones was broadcasting in front of Serbian fans who were chanting.
He attempted to make light of the situation and joked to the TV audience: “Novak’s overrated, Novak’s a has-been, Novak, kick him out.”
Jones then followed with: “Oh I’m glad they can’t hear me.”
Following his Jan. 19 win against Czech tennis player Jiri Lehecka, Djokovic snubbed a request from Channel Nine on-court reporter and former player Jim Courier, and did not give the usual interview after play.
Djokovic later took to social media to share his explanation.
“The reason why I chose not to do that (give an interview) is because a few days ago, a famous sports journalist here from Australia who works for a main broadcaster of Australian Open, a Channel Nine, decided to mock Serbian fans and he made insulting and offensive comments towards me,” Djokovic said.
“So, I was hoping he is going to apologise in public which he hasn’t done yet, neither did Channel Nine.
“That’s the only reason I didn’t do the interview, it was of course not a great feeling for me and it was quite awkward on the court.”
Djokovic said there was nothing personal against Courier.
“I have tremendous respect for him and I always love speaking to Jim and I know a lot of people wanted to hear me speak,” he said.
“So I apologise for everyone being on the stadium not being able to hear me speak, and on the TV as well, but that’s the main reason and I have to stand by my decision and hope this stands until something is done.
“So I leave it to Channel Nine and hopefully that situation will change for the next match.”
Jones has since apologised and said he was engaging in “banter” with fans.
“If I could just give you a bit of a timeline here—the comments were made on the news on the Friday night, which I considered to be banter. I considered it to be humour. Which is consistent with most things I do, whether it be the Sunday Footy Show or on the morning show or here.
“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, so this is 48 hours ago.
“But any disrespect that Novak felt that I caused and as I stand here now I stand by that apology to Novak if he felt any disrespect, which clearly he does.”
Djokovic is set to play against Spain’s Carlos Alcarez next.
PM Calls for More Kindness and Generosity
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called Djokovic a “fine tennis player,” saying “there is a place for more respect.”“I’ve seen the comments that were made by the broadcaster,” he told reporters on Jan. 20.
“We need more kindness and generosity and respect just across the board.
“I think that’s what people are looking for.”
Australian Darren Cahill, who coaches men’s player Jannik Sinner, said on ESPN that the joke likely missed its target.
A Fractious Relationship With Australian Authorities
Despite his enduring success down under, Djokovic has had a difficult relationship with Australian authorities in recent years.When his medical team ran tests, they showed the champion athlete had a high level of heavy metal in his blood.
