Novak Djokovic finds himself once again in the news about something negative, but this time he’s mostly the victim rather than the perpetrator. The tennis great took umbrage at a sportscaster calling him a “has-been” during the ongoing Australian Open, and then refused to do interviews with the channel.

While on-air Friday, Jan. 17, Tony Jones, a veteran sports broadcaster for Australia’s Channel 9, nodded toward a group of Djokovic fans and announced, “Novak, he’s overrated, Novak’s a has-been, Novak, kick him out.” The Serbian athlete has won a record 24 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, most recently at the 2023 U.S. Open.

Djokovic (pictured) responded by refusing to do the typical courtside interview after his fourth-round victory Sunday night. Instead, he posted a video on X decrying that Jones “decided to mock Serbian fans and he made insulting and offensive comments towards me.”

Public Apology

Djokovic said he was hoping Jones (whom he didn’t name) would apologize publicly (implying there’d been a private “sorry”), but he hadn’t and neither had Channel 9. That was why the athlete didn’t do the Q&A despite his respect for the interviewer, former No. 1 player Jim Courier.

This echoed the 2020 U.S. Open incident in which Djokovic threw a hissy and bashed a ball that hit a line judge in the throat, was ejected from the tournament and then refused to talk to the press. He later apologized. Professional tennis players are required, especially at the major events, to talk to the press. Refusing to do so looks small.

On the other hand, Djokovic wasn’t wrong that Jones and Channel 9 should apologize publicly. Both had a crisis they needed to respond to — publicly. Crises typically should be answered where they occur (at least). This crisis happened on-air, and so should have the mea culpa.

Vax Status

Another aspect of this incident is that Jones’ “kick him out” echoed Australia’s deportation of Djokovic during the 2022 Open because he was unvaccinated against COVID-19. His vax status was among his many controversies. His reputation precedes him.

Then on Monday, Jan. 20, Jones did apologize on-air. He said that he had already done so privately to the player and his team and that he stood “by that apology to Novak if he feels any disrespect, which he clearly does.” Jones said he had intended his comments to be “banter” and “humor.” He also apologized to Djokovic’s fans.

Channel 9, too, apologized (“no harm was intended towards Novak or his fans”). According to Tennis Australia, the player acknowledged the public display of contrition and was “now moving on and focusing on his next match.”

Next Match

His “next match” raises another odd aspect of this incident: the theory that Djokovic pushed the controversy either to distract from what many viewed as his inevitable loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals Tuesday night or to psych himself up to win. “Djokovic is known to pick a battle with fans in the crowd or manufacture a controversy that he can use as extra motivation to win,” Sam Goodwin wrote in Yahoo! News Monday.

Impossible to know. In the end, Djokovic beat Alcaraz in four sets (4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–4) to advance to the semifinals. After his victory, he dutifully conducted his courtside interview with Courier.

Photo Credit: Victor Velter/Shutterstock

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