Archive photo of Novak Djokovic©AFP
A top TV presenter apologized on air to Novak Djokovic on Monday after mocking the 24-time Grand Slam winner and his Serbian fans at the Australian Open, saying it was meant to be a joke. The 37-year-old tennis great declined to do a routine on-court interview after beating Jiri Lehecka in three sets at Rod Laver Arena to advance to the quarter-finals on Sunday night. He then said it was a protest against Tony Jones, a leading sports presenter on host channel Channel Nine, who he accused of “insulting and offensive comments” about him and the Serbian fans. Djokovic said he would boycott interviews with the TV network until he received an apology. “These comments were made on the Friday night news, which I considered joking. I considered them humor, which is consistent with most things I do,” Jones said Monday.
“That said, I was informed on Saturday morning, from Tennis Australia via the Djokovic camp, that the Djokovic camp was not at all happy with these comments.
“So I immediately contacted Djokovic’s camp and apologized to them – 48 hours ago – for any disrespect Novak felt that I had caused.
“As I stand here, I can only stand by my apologies to Novak.”
The veteran broadcaster was live at Melbourne Park on Friday when a large group of Djokovic fans waving Serbian flags began cheering in the background behind him.
Jones responded by singing to them: “Novak, he’s overrated…Novak is a has-been. Novak, kick him out.”
“I must also say that the disrespect extended, in many ways, to Serbian fans,” he said in his apology.
“We built a good relationship with the Serbian fans… there are jokes, and I thought what I was doing was an extension of those jokes. Obviously it wasn’t interpreted that way.
“I feel like I’ve disappointed the Serbian fans. It’s an unfortunate situation.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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