Novak Djokovic has received an apology from Channel Nine broadcaster Tony Jones over his comments at the Australian Open.
After Jones exclaimed, “Novak, he’s overrated! Novak is in the past! Novak, fire him!” During the live broadcast, Djokovic interrupted his on-court interview.
But Jones has since said he has reached out to Djokovic to apologise
“I took it as a joke, which is consistent with most things I do,” Jones said.
“Having said that, I learned on Saturday morning from Tennis Australia via the Djokovic camp that the Djokovic camp was not at all happy with these comments,” he added.
“As such, I immediately contacted Djokovic’s camp and issued an apology to them. As I stand here now, I stand by this apology to Novak.
“I apologize if he felt I disrespected him. If I could go back in time, knowing that we all got our PhDs too late, the only thing I overstepped the mark on…is the last comment I made.”
“I could stand here and comment on that, but that can only be interpreted as a throwback to the Covid years when he was fired. Now, that has angered Novak, which I completely understand.”