Novak Djokovic’s full statement as he reveals ‘only reason’ for Australian Open interview protest
Novak Djokovic has revealed that his refusal to do an on-court interview at the Australian Open was related to controversial comments made on Australia’s Channel 9.
Seventh seed Djokovic breezed through to the last eight of the Australian Open on Sunday, fending off Jiri Lehecka in straight sets to book a meeting against third seed Carlos Alcaraz.
In the aftermath of the match, the Serbian refused to do an on-court interview with Jim Courier, with many believing this was in some way related to crowd behaviour during the match.
However, Djokovic has now revealed that his refusal relates to comments made by Channel 9 broadcaster Tony Jones earlier this week.
Jones controversially described the 37-year-old as “overrated” and a “has-been” when on air, also joking “kick him out” about the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
Channel 9 is the host broadcaster and organises the post-match on-court interviews at the Australian Open.
Taking to Twitter/X, Djokovic confirmed that he had no issue with Courier or fans during the match, and was waiting for an apology from both Jones and the broadcaster.
“Hey guys, thank you all for your support,” said Djokovic.
“It was a great match again against Lehecka, who’s in form. Looking forward to the next match-up with Carlos, and I just want to take a moment to reflect on what happened on the court.
“The reason why I did not do an interview that is a common practice, after the match for the winner to do a post-match interview – I just wanted to clarify with everyone what happened.
“The reason why I chose not to do that is that a few days ago, a famous sports journalist from here in 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.
“So I was hoping he was going to apologise in public, which he hasn’t done yet, and neither did Channel 9, so that’s the only reason why I didn’t do the interview.
“It was, of course, not a great feeling for me and it was quite awkward on the court. Jim Courier is the one who came out, I have tremendous respect for him and I always love speaking to Jim.
“I know that a lot of people wanted to hear me speak so I apologise for everyone in the stadium not being able to hear me speak, and on the TV as well.
“That’s the main reason and I have to stand by my decision and hold these stands until something is done. I leave it to Channel 9 and hopefully that situation will change for the next match.”
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Earlier on, Djokovic had explained the situation in similar detail during his post-match press conference.
He commented: “I’d like to just clarify the reason why it was not conducted on the court.
“A couple of days ago the famous sports journalist who works for official broadcaster Nine here in Australia made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me.
“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’s quarter-final against Alcaraz will take place on Tuesday, with the winner facing 12th seed Tommy Paul or second seed Alexander Zverev in the last four.
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