Australian commentator Tony Jones apologises to Novak Djokovic

The Times of India in Melbourne: Australian sports commentator Tony Jones apologised to Novak Djokovic on Monday for the disparaging comments made at the Australian Open.

Last week’s unsavoury incident led Melbourne Park’s ten-time champion Djokovic to decline a customary on-court interview on Sunday, following his fourth-round win over Jiri Lehecka.

Djokovic had vowed not to budge from his stand until he received a public apology.

The 63-year-old Jones apologised on social media with a video explaining that he had reached out to Djokovic and his camp on Saturday to apologise for the comments, which he considered as “banter”.

“I considered it to be humour, which is consistent with most things I do,” Jones said. “Having said that, I was made aware on the Saturday morning from Tennis Australia via the Djokovic camp that the Djokovic camp was not happy at all with those comments.’


‘I immediately contacted the Djokovic camp and issued an apology to them. And as I stand here now, I stand by that apology to Novak. I apologise if he felt that I disrespected him.”

Jones had mocked Serbian fans in a live broadcast singing, “Novak, he’s overrated. Novak’s a has-been. Novak, kick him out.”

He acknowledged the impact his comments had on Serbian fans and said he “overstepped the mark” with that last remark.