What really happened in the lead-up to Novak Djokovic’s war with Tony Jones

By the time Tony Jones arrived at Melbourne Park on Saturday, he knew his “banter” with Serbian fans on Friday had blown up in his face. SCOTT GULLAN goes inside what happened next.

Tony Jones knew quickly his “banter” with the Serbian fans on Friday night had backfired.

By the time he’d reported back to Melbourne Park the following morning Channel 9 had already been contacted by the Serbian press contingent covering the Australian Open seeking comment.

The clip of Jones revving up the fans – which he’d actually done off-camera moments earlier indicating to them that his live cross was two-minutes away – and then jokingly having a crack at Djokovic had gone viral.

Nine moved quickly to get an apology written: “Unfortunately, my ‘humour’ the previous evening was misinterpreted as an attack on Novak,” Jones told SportKlub.

“That was certainly not the case. I joke with the Serbian fans throughout the tournament and this — at least I thought so — is a continuation of all that.

“If you watch our Morning Show, you would get an idea of how we work. At no point did I think to show disrespect to Novak and I apologise — there was certainly no intention to offend him.”

By this stage Tennis Australia were in crisis management mode and had been in contact with Djokovic’s team, explaining how Jones had made the apology and they clearly thought that was the end of it.

Novak Djokovic is in the spotlight for the wrong reasons yet again. Picture: Michael Klein

Jones had even offered to meet with Djokovic and his team face-to-face to say sorry but given he was in the middle of the tournament and playing his fourth-round match on Sunday night that was deemed not possible.

Interestingly tournament boss Craig Tiley also didn’t personally speak to Djokovic.

This seems strange given the pair are supposedly very close – remember it was Tiley who moved heaven and earth to get the tennis champion into the country during the 2022 Covid scandal before it all went pear-shaped.

Clearly Tiley got the vibe that Djokovic’s people were under control and the heat had been taken out of the situation.

Channel 9 clearly thought that also and it was business as usual on Sunday night as Djokovic comfortably cruised through his match against Czech Jiri Lehecka although the 24-time grand slam champion started to lose his cool in the third set.

He’d had problems with the crowd in his previous match and was again agitated by fans calling out, pausing for long moments and then urging the chair umpire to get engaged.

He was clearly grumpy and the narrative of Djokovic fighting against the Aussie crowd was building by the minute. That’s why the post-match interview with Jim Courier was eagerly awaited as there was something brewing.

When Djokovic grabbed the microphone off Courier the initial thought was he was going to do a prank, which he’s done before and become the interviewer. He wasn’t.

“I appreciate your presence and support and I will see you next round,” Djokovic curtly said before quickly heading for the exit.

Shortly after he was seen in discussion with a shocked Tiley and then 30 minutes later he started his press conference by clarifying his Courier snub and then going nuclear on Jones and Nine.

By the time Jones fronted the camera to issue his second apology over the incident 11 hours later, the tennis world was in a spin with the Aussie sports presenter in the cross hairs.

The Serbian Council of Australia had lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission, Wimbledon champion Boris Becker, Aussie great Pat Cash, Nick Kyrgios (of course), British broadcaster Piers Morgans and even the world’s richest man Elon Musk were putting their two bobs worth.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was also asked for his reaction about “Chompers’ – as Jones is affectionately known after having his teeth rebuilt years ago.

Jones did his best to explain himself when he fronted the start of Nine’s coverage on Monday. He said he considered his banter with the fans as “humour” although the one comment he would take back was when he said Djokovic should be “kicked out” which was a throwback to the Covid scandal.

He seemed genuinely shocked that he’d found himself in the middle of an international incident and as the dust settled more, there seemed to be a groundswell of support for him.

Was this another Djokovic diversion tactic? He’s done this before, putting the spotlight on something else – like an injury – which he then uses in an “us-against-the world” motivational tool.

Channel 9 host Tony Jones is under fire.

It’s clearly worked in the past – don’t forget he’s chasing an incredible 11th title at Melbourne Park this year – and what the post-match interview snub stunt has done is put to the side the fact he’s facing a major uphill battle in the quarter-finals against reigning French and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz.

The odds are stacked against the 37-year-old in that match-up. He knows it and maybe taking on ‘Chompers’ was a good way to switch the narrative and get the fans behind him.

What he has done is ensured the ratings on Channel 9 on Tuesday night will go through the roof. Everyone will be wanting to see how he responds, waiting to see if he gets the opportunity to talk to Courier again.

As for Jones, while people from all over the globe have been calling for his head, he was back in the hosting chair although the “banter” and “humour” was taking a back seat.

“The priority here now is to focus on the tennis again.”

Well said.

Originally published as What really happened in the lead-up to Novak Djokovic’s war with Tony Jones