Novak Djokovic has hit out at Australian Open broadcaster Channel 9 in the wake of his controversial fourth-round win over Jiri Lehecka, saying veteran journalist Tony Jones’ ‘insulting and offensive’ remark was the reason for his decision to snub a post-match interview with Jim Courier.
And the Serbian Council of Australia has called for Jones’ resignation, lodging a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.
Djokovic set up a mouth-watering quarter-final showdown with Carlos Alcaraz, primed to be one of the biggest attractions of the tournament, by overcoming 23-year-old Czech Lehecka on Rod Laver Arena in the evening, winning 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-4) to keep alive his quest for a record 25th grand slam singles title.
Super Spaniard Alcaraz advanced on Sunday afternoon when his fourth round opponent, 15th-seed Brit Jack Draper, was forced to withdraw with a hip injury while trailing 7-5 6-1.
With his 10-year-old son Stefan, a rare visitor to the Open, watching in the stands, Djokovic sealed his 15th quarter-final appearance – equalling Roger Federer’s all-time record at Melbourne Park.
He also stretched his all-time record for grand slam quarter-final appearances to 61.
Djokovic didn’t initially appear ruffled on court, but refused to partake in an on-court interview with Courier post-match, as is standard for games at the Australian Open.
He took the microphone and made a statement: “Thank you very much for being here tonight. I appreciate your presence and support and I will see you next round. Thank you very much”.
Djokovic then signed some autographs before heading off court.
He later clarified his decision was in direct response to veteran reporter Tony Jones riling up Serbian fans during a live cross during Nine News’ evening bulletin on Friday.
“Welcome back to Melbourne Park, where you can see the Novak Djokovic fans, they’re in full voice,” Jones said.
“The chants are quite extraordinary – ‘Novak, he’s overrated. Novak’s a has-been. Novak, kick him out.’
“Boy, I’m glad they can’t hear me!”
In his post-match press conference, having already spoken to rival broadcaster Eurosport, Djokovic slammed Jones, as well as Nine, for not issuing an apology for the comments.
“A couple of days ago the famous sports journalist who works for official broadcaster Channel Nine here in Australia 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 Nine.
“Since they’re official broadcasters I chose not to give interviews for Channel Nine.
“I have nothing against Jim Courier or the Australian public. It’s unfortunate.
“I chose to say something to the crowd but obviously wasn’t the time and situation to explain what I’m doing right now.
“I leave it to Nine to handle this the way they see fit.”
Djokovic added that he would continue to refuse interviews with Nine should an apology not be forthcoming.
Speaking on Nine’s Today show, however, Jones claimed that he had apologised to Djokovic and his team before his Courier snub.
“The comments were made on the news on the Friday night, which I considered to be banter,” he said.
“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 and apology to them – 48 hours ago – for any disrespect that Novak felt that I had caused.
“As I stand here now I can only stand by that apology to Novak.
“I should also say the disrespect was extended, in many ways, to the Serbian fans. We have built up a nice rapport with the Serbian fans… there is banter, and I thought what I was doing was an extension of that banter. Quite clearly that has not been interpreted that way.
“I feel as though I’ve let down the Serbian fans.
“It has been an unfortunate situation.”
In a press release, the Serbian Council of Australia described Jones’ comments as ‘offensive’ and ‘racist’, and stated that they have written to Nine’s acting CEO Matt Stanton calling for him to fire Jones and issue a formal apology.
“Evidence from crowd members suggests that Mr. Jones invited Australian-Serb fans before a live broadcast and asked them to begin chanting and cheering,” the statement reads.
“The fans were led to believe that they would be filmed as part of a Channel Nine segment on Australian Open fans.
“However, the footage shows Mr. Jones mocking the Australian-Serb fans behind him, both through his comments and body language. Mr. Jones started the broadcast by saying that ‘Novak, he’s overrated’. He proceeds to explain that ‘Novak’s a has-been, Novak, kick him out’.
“For Australian-Serbs, the words ‘kick him out’ is akin to saying ‘kick the Serbs out of Australia’, because there is strong evidence of feelings of exclusion due to media reporting about Australian-Serbs in the past.
“His comments are offensive, racist and only serve to incite further discrimination of Australian-Serbs.”
Lehecka posed a genuine threat to the veteran after an eight-match unbeaten start to the year, which included the Brisbane International title.
He had only dropped one set in three Open matches, while his best grand slam result came at Melbourne Park with a quarter-final berth in 2023.
While world No.29 Lehecka hit some spectacular winners, an unforced error tally of 44 cruelled his chances against the Serbian maestro.
Lehecka struggled to penetrate the game of the former world No.1, although he finally managed to break Djokovic’s serve in the second game of the third set to level at 1-1.
That boost of confidence breathed life into the battle and, willed by the large crowd, Lehecka kept his nose in front as the set headed to a tie-breaker.
Djokovic took control early and gave himself two match points, wrapping it up at his first opportunity.
Due to Djokovic’s ranking dropping to No.7, the Tuesday night show-stopper against third-seeded Alcaraz comes earlier than many would deem worthy.
Last year, the pair squared off in the Olympic gold medal match, won by 37-year-old Djokovic, while Acalraz clinched their Wimbledon title showdown for the second straight year.
Alcaraz, 21, has won four majors and needs the Australian Open crown to complete his career slam.
His best result at the Open was last year’s quarter-final showing, where he fell to current No.2 Alexander Zverev.
Djokovic exited in the semi-finals, beaten by eventual winner Jannik Sinner.
(with AAP)