Novak Djokovic boycotts Channel 9 after blaming Tony Jones for snubbing Australian Open interview

Channel 9 sports presenter Tony Jones is the sole reason Novak Djokovic refused to give an on-court interview after his fourth-round Australian Open win over Jiri Lehecka on Sunday night.

After winning imperiously in straight sets on Rod Laver Arena to set up a mouth-watering clash with modern rival Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals, Djokovic, instead of giving the customary post-match interview for the crowd and everyone watching from home, took the mic for a brief second to thank everyone for coming and then left.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Novak Djokovic explains on-court interview snub.

Jones had mocked both Djokovic and his Serbian fans who were standing behind his outside broadcast at Melbourne Park where he was reading the 6pm sport news on Friday.

“Welcome back to Melbourne Park where you can see the Novak Djokovic fans in full voice ... the chants are quite extraordinary,” Jones said.

“Novak is overrated ... Novak’s a has-been ... Novak, kick him out,” he sung back to them before adding, “I am glad that they can’t hear me.”

Speaking at his post-match press conference on Sunday, and in a separate video posted to his personal social media, the 24-time grand slam champion said he would not give Nine an interview until he received an apology for Jones’s antics.

“Yes, good evening. I would like to just clarify the reason why the interview was not conducted on the court, the post-match interview, like it’s a common, usual practice,” the 37-year-old said to open the press conference.

“Couple days ago, the famous sports journalist who works for official broadcaster, Channel 9 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 Channel 9.

“So, since they’re official broadcasters, I chose not to give interviews for Channel 9.

“I have nothing against Jim Courier, or neither the Australian public.

“It was a very awkward situation for me to face on the court today and it’s unfortunate I chose to say something to the crowd, but obviously wasn’t the time and space or situation for me to explain what I’m doing right now.

“So, I’ll leave it to Channel 9 to handle this the way they think they see fit.”

Djokovic later posted a video on social media saying the same thing, and insisting that a lack of apology was “the only reason I didn’t do the interview”.

“It was of course not a great feeling for me and it was quite awkward on the court,” Djokovic said in the video.

“Jim Courier was the one that came out. I have tremendous respect for him and I always love speaking to Jim and I know that a lot of people wanted to hear me speak, so I apologise for everyone being in the stadium and not being able to hear me speak. And on the TV as well.

“I have to stand by my decision and hold this stance until something is done, so I’ll leave it to Channel 9 and hopefully that situation will change for the next match.”

Jones issued his first public response on Monday, claiming he had apologised to Djokovic and his camp in private on Saturday.

“I immediately contacted the Djokovic camp and issued an apology to them — so this is 48 hours ago — any disrespect Novak felt that I caused,” Jones said on Nine.

“And as I stand here now, I stand by that apology to Novak if he felt any disrespect, which quite clearly he does.”

He later added he had also offered to meet with Djokovic.

“I can only again tell Novak what I told him 48 hours ago, and that is I apologise if he felt that I disrespected him,” Jones said.

“I should also add that in the correspondence, I agreed to meet with them in person to discuss all this. They came back and said yes we’d be keen to meet in person — that hasn’t transpired, but I’m sure it will in the next 24 hours.”

Djokovic, speaking after his match, made no mention of the private talks as he demanded a public apology from Jones and Nine.

The tennis great was initially booed off the court by the Melbourne Park fans, but since issuing his explanation, he has received widespread support from the tennis world.

Former Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka said he’s well within his rights to do what he did.

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

Tennis legend Boris Becker slammed Jones for his unprofessionalism.

“That’s actually very disturbing behaviour from a TV broadcaster who works for Channel 9. Does he still have a job for the rest of the tournament?” he said.

“Any decent person would agree with Novak Djokovic’s position,” journalist Tracey Holmes added.

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

After Jones’s effort on Friday’s broadcast, Nine’s Tom Steinfort replied that Jones may have usurped Danielle Collins, who riled up the crowd with her antics the previous night, as the most unpopular figure at the Australian Open.

“I didn’t think anyone would be more unpopular than Danielle Collins after last night’s antics, but Tony well done, you’ve taken the cake.” he said.