Australian TV host issues apology to Novak Djokovic over 'insulting remarks'

Novak Djokovic skipped his on-court interview following his fourth-round win.

Renowned sports presenter Tony Jones, who works for Australian Open’s official broadcaster, Channel Nine, issued a public apology for his “insulting and offensive statements” about Novak Djokovic and his Serbian fans. The TV host went viral for making fun of the 24-time Grand Slam champion and his supporters, which clearly didn’t go well with Djokovic.

The gravity of the situation became evident following Djokovic’s dominant victory over Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round of the Australian Open 2025. The 37-year-old chose to forgo the customary on-court press conference, instead delivering a brief thank-you message to the crowd and signed a few balls and autographs for the kids in the stands.

Many speculated that the 10-time Australian Open winner was unhappy with a certain section of the crowd due to constant heckling. But Djokovic later explained his decision behind skipping the conference.

“A few days ago, a famous sports journalist here from Australia who works for a main broadcaster of the Australian Open, Channel 9, decided to mock Serbian fans and he made insulting and offensive comments towards me,” he stated. 

The Serbian threatened to boycott all on-court conferences for the rest of the competition, should there be no apology. On Monday, Tony Jones issued an apology to Djokovic and the Serbian fans. “I should also say the disrespect was extended, in many ways, to the Serbian fans,” he said in his apology.

“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,” he added.

In a strongly worded statement issued before Jones’s apology, the Serbian Council of Australia called for him to be sacked and said it had lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission. “His comments are offensive, racist and only serve to incite further discrimination of Australian-Serbs,” it said.

According to channel nine, Djokovic has now accepted the apology from host Tony Jones after feeling “disrespected” by the live TV interaction with Serbian fans on Friday night. “Novak acknowledges the apology has been given in public as requested and is now moving on and focusing on his next match,” the statement, which was released by Tennis Australia, said.

Earlier, Jones was also a target for controversial American player Danielle Collins last week after he labelled her a “brat” when she thanked Australian Open hecklers for “paying my bills” in her victory over crowd favourite Destanee Aiava in the second round.

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