Australia’s prickly verdict on Novak Djokovic interview storm

Australia has had its say on the incident that has rocked tennis and the verdict is not what Novak Djokovic wants to hear.

Australia has had its say on the incident that has rocked tennis and the verdict is not what Novak Djokovic wants to hear.

The 24-time grand slam champ steps back onto Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday night after his sensational boycott of Channel 9 sent the Australian Open into meltdown.

Tennis Australia released a statement on Monday night to confirm Djokovic has “acknowledged” an apology he was given by Channel 9 presenter Tony Jones.

The Footy Show host was forced to make the public apology after Djokovic took offence to the Australian TV figure’s taunting chants towards Serbian fans during a live broadcast at Melbourne Park.

It seems everyone in the sport has had a say on whether Jones’ chants were acceptable — and a poll of Australian fans now shows Jones has plenty of support.

As polled by 40,000 readers of news.com.au, Australia has been split over whether the Serbian superstar was justified in giving Jim Courier the cold shoulder when he walked off court following his fourth-round win over Jiri Lehecka.

The poll above shows 44 per cent of readers believe Djokovic overreacted.

Despite the international outrage Jones’ comments have caused, just 18 per cent of readers believe the veteran sports broadcaster should be sacked.

There are also further questions the saga raises.

Aussie Open cult hero Marcos Baghdatis strongly disagrees with the views of those polled.

The Cypriot has sensationally called for Jones to be banned.

“I just think he shouldn’t be allowed in the grounds, is my opinion,’’ he Baghdatis told The Herald Sun.

“If a player (makes a mistake) nowadays we kill him, so I think this is really disrespectful to tennis, to the sport and to Novak and actually to the tournament.

“And I think actions should be taken.’’

Baghdatis said what Jones said was “a disgrace to the sport”.

American tennis commentator Patrick McEnroe also called for action to be taken.

“All I have to say is good for Novak for speaking up because that to me was just an idiotic statement,” he said on ESPN.

Tony Jones has apologised to Novak Djokovic.

“It was an idiotic comment by Tony and Novak has every right to be annoyed.”

Mary Jo Fernandez also said Jones’ comments were made “in such poor taste”.

The way Jones delivered his apology was also widely criticised on Monday night.

Renowned tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg wrote on X: “Tony Jones has “apologised,” but it’s one of those hollow apologies where he apologises for how it made someone feel, not what he did, and he makes clear that he disagrees with the feelings. “I do apologise” shouldn’t become “I do apologise if”.

Tennis blogger Pavvy G wrote: “Here is Tony Jones apology, instead of all the excuses and trying to deflect the attention away from HIS mistake, he should have just said a couple of sentences, I’m really sorry to Djokovic and his fans and wish him the best.”

As the anger piled in on social media in Jones’ direction, fellow Channel 9 employees were coming to his defence declaring his comments were simply a case of a sense of humour lost in translation.

Novak Djokovic left Jim Courier hanging. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.

Today hosts Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo made light of the situation, while guest panellist Senator Jacqui Lambie jokingly urged Jones to double down on his comments.

The consensus from Nine’s media stable seemed to be that Djokovic didn’t understand Jones’ tongue-in-cheek style.

Despite their best efforts, Jones was on the hot seat with not only fans but fellow players calling out the veteran broadcaster.

Two-time grand slam winner Victoria Azarenka led the support of Djokovic.

“The audacity to call Novak Djokovic overrated by a reporter is just insane,” she tweeted. “The guy literally completed tennis by winning everything you can in our sport!”

Piers Morgan was also on the Serb’s side. “Djokovic is right. That Channel 9 guy was an absolute tool.”

The world’s richest man Elon Musk even entered the debate when responded to Djokovic’s video post on X.

“It’s way better just to talk to the public directly than go through the negativity filter of legacy media,” Musk replied to the video.

“Indeed,” Djokovic wrote back.

The scandal has however drawn to a conclusion with Djokovic accepting Jones’ apology and now turning his full attention to his Tuesday night clash against Carlos Alcaraz.

Originally published as Australia’s prickly verdict on Novak Djokovic interview storm