MELBOURNE, Jan 20 (Bernama-dpa) -- Australian sports presenter Tony Jones on Monday publicly apologised to tennis great Novak Djokovic for making disparaging comments about him and his fans, after the Serbian star boycotted an on-court interview a day earlier in protest, reported German news agency (dpa).
Djokovic skipped the customary post-match interview on Sunday following his win over Jiri Lehecka to advance to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
He later explained that he was boycotting host broadcaster Channel Nine over "insulting and offensive comments" towards him and mocking of Serbian fans by its sports presenter, Tony Jones, a day earlier.
The episode in question saw Jones mocking a group of Djokovic supporters by singing, "Novak is overrated, Novak's a has-been, Novak, kick him out."
Djokovic on Sunday complained that Jones "chose not to issue any public apology. Neither did Channel Nine". He went on to say that he would "leave it to Channel Nine to handle this the way they think they see fit".
On Monday, Jones publicly apologised to Djokovic and his fans, saying that his comments were meant as banter.
"The comments were made on the news on the Friday night, which I considered to be banter. I considered it to be humour, which is consistent with most things I do," Jones said on Channel Nine's Today programme.
Jones went on to say that he had apologised to the Djokovic camp on Saturday morning "for any disrespect that Novak felt that I had caused. And, as I stand here now, I 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 was banter. So, I thought what I was doing was an extension of that banter. Quite clearly that has not been interpreted that way."
Jones went on to say that he "overstepped the mark" when he said "Novak kick him out", which was a nod to 2022, when the star was detained and then deported from Australia due to his unvaccinated status amid the country's strict COVID-19 entry regulations at the time.
"That has angered Novak, which I completely understand now," Jones said.
"So look, it has been an unfortunate situation, it's been one of personal angst for Novak. It's quite clearly personal angst for me as well, but I just think the priority here now is to focus on the tennis again."
Djokovic is set to face world number three Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday, as his quest for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title continues.
-- BERNAMA-dpa
