Australian broadcaster Tony Jones has apologised to Novak Djokovic for comments he made on Friday night, which the 10-time Australian Open champion found “insulting and offensive.”
Djokovic even refused to do the usual on-court interview after his fourth-round win on Sunday, saying he would not speak to the tournament’s Australian broadcaster, Channel Nine, until Jones had apologised.
A group of Serbian fans had gathered outside Channel Nine’s broadcast booth at Melbourne Park on Friday, after Jones called the 24-time Grand Slam champion “overrated” and a “has-been.” Initially, Jones said he was joking with the crowd, but later he privately apologised to Djokovic’s team when it became clear his comments were not seen as a joke.
“I stand by my apology to Novak,” Jones said. “We’ve built a good relationship with the Serbian fans… and there was some banter, which I thought was part of that. Clearly, it was not understood that way.”
Tennis Australia confirmed that Djokovic, who will face world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, wants to move on from the situation.
“It has been an unfortunate situation, and it’s caused personal stress for Novak,” Jones added. “It’s clearly caused stress for me too.”