An Australian broadcaster has apologised to Novak Djokovic and fans of the Serbian for comments he made on TV that the 10-times Australian Open tennis champion considered "insulting and offensive".
Djokovic declined to do the customary on-court interview after his fourth-round victory over Jiri Lehecka on Sunday, pending a public apology from Tony Jones and Australian broadcast rights holders Channel Nine.
Jones had mocked Djokovic and the Serbian fans who had gathered outside Channel Nine's broadcast booth at Melbourne Park on Friday, saying the 24-times Grand Slam champion was "over-rated" and a "has-been".
In an interview on the channel on Monday, Jones said he thought the comments had been "banter" and he had immediately made a private apology to the "Djokovic camp" once he realised they had not been taken in humour.
"I can stand by that apology to Novak," he said. "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 ... and there was 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."
Jones said the one comment he particularly regretted was "kick him out", which he accepted could only be construed as a reference to Djokovic's deportation from Australia in a row over his Covid-19 vaccination status in early 2022.
"That has angered Novak which I completely understand now," Jones said.
"It has been an unfortunate situation, it has been one of personal angst for Novak, it's quite clearly personal angst for me as well."
There was no immediate response to a request for comment about the apology from seventh seed Djokovic, who plays world No 3 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
There were moments of frustration for Djokovic towards the end of the contest and he uncharacteristically declined to do a post-match interview on Rod Laver Arena, drawing boos from a section of the crowd.
"Thank you very much for being here tonight. I appreciate your presence and the support. I'll see you in the next round. Thank you very much," Djokovic said curtly on court, before signing a few autographs and heading to the dressing room.
He did a post-match interview with Eurosport and addressed the topic later in his news conference on Sunday.
"A couple days ago the famous sports journalist who works for the official broadcaster, Channel Nine here in Australia, made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me," Djokovic said.
"And since then, he chose not to issue any public apology. Neither did Channel Nine. Since they're official broadcasters, I chose not to give interviews for Channel Nine.
"I have nothing against (on-court interviewer) Jim Courier or the Australian public. It was an awkward situation for me to face on the court.
"I leave it to Channel Nine to handle this the way they think they see fit. That's all."
Straight sets win, next up Alcaraz
Djokovic trampled all over Czech 24th seed Jiri Lehecka to seal a 6-3 6-4 7-6(4) win on Sunday.
After a couple of tough early tests, Djokovic sharpened his tools in the hunt for a record 25th Grand Slam crown and 11th at Melbourne Park with a mauling of Czech Tomas Machac in the last round and was again at his impressive best against Lehecka.
On the court, a solitary break in the eighth game was all Djokovic needed to take the opening set, as the 37-year-old looked in total control despite playing well within himself in perfect conditions at a packed centre court.
Djokovic attacked Lehecka's serve early in the next set and efficiently doubled his advantage in the match, as the 23-year-old Czech was left with a mountain to climb to equal his feat of reaching the quarterfinals two years ago.
A rejuvenated Lehecka recovered after dropping serve again and stayed in the fight to frustrate Djokovic in the third set, but there was only going to be one winner when the Serb went ahead 4-2 in the tiebreak.
With Djokovic's forehand and serve clicking back into gear, he comfortably closed out the win to equal his now retired rival Roger Federer's all-time record of 15 appearances in the last-eight stage of the Melbourne Park major.