Why Novak Djokovic Is Boycotting Channel Nine
After Tony Jones' mocking comments, Djokovic is taking a strong stance against the Australian Open's host broadcaster.
MELBOURNE, Australia — It had been an entirely uneventful, underwhelming Sunday at the Australian Open. Scorching midday heat left many already weary players fully cooked in daytime play: eight of the 18 sets completed in the first seven matches were either 6-1 or 6-0.
In the cooler night session, Novak Djokovic’s 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Jiri Lehecka—the second straight Czech opponent to give Djokovic less of a challenge than anticipated—wasn’t particularly compelling, either.
But after Lehecka had left Rod Laver Arena, the night got interesting just when it had already seemed over.
As the various play-by-play announcers for various worldwide broadcasters were setting up for a crowd-pleasing on-court chat between Djokovic and fan-favorite interviewer Jim Courier, it became apparent that Djokovic, not Courier, had taken the microphone.
“He’s going to have a chat with our own Jim Courier,” World Feed commentator Robbie Koenig teed up as the audio switched to the on-court microphone.
“Sure, go ahead,” Courier could then be heard telling Djokovic.
“Thank you very much for being here tonight,” Djokovic began as he addressed the crowd preemptively. “I appreciate your presence and the support, and I’ll see you next round. Thank you very much.”
As Djokovic quickly waved and then turned toward the exit, an initial sprig of cheers was overtaken by a smattering of boos once the ticketholders inside Laver realized that Djokovic was abruptly abjuring the interview.
Djokovic Explains His Stance
Djokovic had had issues with a disruptive crowd in his previous match against Machac, but this didn’t seem to be the reason for his decision on Sunday evening, as he stayed on the court for several minutes to sign autographs for fans leaning over the barrier.
After eventually walking off the court, Djokovic was soon seen on the tournament’s unblinking behind-the-scenes camera talking intently to tournament director Craig Tiley just outside the locker room.
When he made it into the main interview room about 30 minutes after leaving court—about twice as fast as he usually comes to press—Djokovic articulated the reason he had left Courier hanging.
“Novak would like to say something before we take questions,” ATP moderator Nicola Arzani prefaced.
“Yes, good evening,” Djokovic said, before launching into his statement:
“So I would like to just clarify the reason why the interview was not conducted on the court—the post-match interview—like is a common, usual practice. A couple days ago, the famous sports journalist [Tony Jones] 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; 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 it wasn't the time and space—or situation—for me to explain what I'm doing right now.
“So I leave it to Channel 9 to handle this the way they think they see fit. And that's all.”
Djokovic was then asked by an Australian reporter if this would “be an ongoing stance until you get an apology?”
“Yes, exactly,” Djokovic said.
Djokovic later confirmed that his conversation with Tiley was explaining his boycott of Channel 9, saying that he hadn’t seen Tiley until after the match, and that all previous communication on the topic had been through his team.
“I just wanted to make sure that he knows where I stand and the reasons behind it,” Djokovic said of the longtime Australian Open tournament director. “So I told him: if you guys want to fine me for not giving an on-court interview, that's OK. I'll accept that, ‘cause I feel like this is something that needs to be done. That's all there is to it.”
About an hour after his press conference, Djokovic also uploaded a video statement to his Twitter account.
“Hey guys. Thank you all for support. Great match again against Lehecka, who is in-form. Looking forward to a next match-up with Carlos.
“I just want to take a moment to reflect on what happened on court, the reason why I did not do an interview that is a common practice after the matches, for the winner to do a post-match interview. So I just wanted to make sure that I clarify with everyone what happened. The reason why I chose not to do that is because a few days ago, a famous sports journalist here from Australia, who works for a main broadcaster of Australian Open, Channel Nine, decided to mock Serbian fans, and he made insulting and offensive comments toward me. So I was hoping he was going to apologize in public, which he hasn’t done yet; neither did Channel Nine. So that’s the only reason why I didn’t do the interview. It was, of course, not a great feeling for me, and it was quite awkward on the court. 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 apologize for everyone being on the stadium and not being able to hear me speak —and on the TV as well. But that’s the main reason, and I have to stand by my decision and hold this stance until something is done. So I leave it to Channel Nine, and hopefully that situation will change for the next match. All the best.”
After Djokovic had made his statement in press, an ESPN panel endorsed his stance.
“I’m sure Tony was trying to be funny, but it was inappropriate,” said Darren Cahill, the Australian coach of Jannik Sinner. “And I don’t blame Novak for taking offense to that.”
Cahill’s ESPN co-panelist James Blake agreed. “It does make sense now,” Blake said of Djokovic’s surprise boycott. “He’s standing on principles, and he’s done that very often in his career. And this one, it absolutely makes sense for him to do that. Because we’ve seen the footage, and it is absolutely inappropriate. So if you’re waiting for an apology, it’s deserved.”
What Tony Jones Did to Upset Novak Djokovic
Tony Jones, a 63-year-old veteran sportscaster for Channel Nine, has hosted the network’s Australian Open coverage since the network became the host broadcaster in 2019.
On Friday evening, as Djokovic’s fans were waiting to file into Rod Laver Arena for his third round match against Tomas Machac, Jones was on location for 9News on the steps of Margaret Court Arena.
When the cross from the studio anchors reached him, Jones began mocking the flag-waving fans behind him:
“Welcome back to Melbourne Park, where you can see the Novak Djokovic fans. They’re in full voice. Yeah, the chants are quite extraordinary: ‘Noooovaaaak, he’s overrated.’ ‘Novaaak’s a has-been. ‘Novaaaaak, kick him out.’ Ooh, I’m glad they can’t hear me. Anyway, let’s get onto the tennis.”
While the “overrated” and “has-been” lines from Jones are harsh but relatively standard for sports trash talk, the “kick him out” line—a reference to Djokovic’s contentious 2022 deportation—likely felt below the belt for Djokovic, who said before this year’s tournament that he still felt “trauma” from the ordeal.
“The last couple of times I landed in Australia—to go through passport control and immigration—I had a bit of trauma from three years ago,” Djokovic told the Herald Sun newspaper in a pre-tournament interview. “Some traces still stay there when I'm passing passport control, just checking out if someone from immigration zone is approaching.”
Another aggravating factor in the episode, which it’s not clear if Djokovic even knows, is that Jones had actually cajoled the Serbian fans gathered behind him to make noise before his live segment began, only to then use their obliging cheers to mock them.
As a Melbourne-based Djokovic fan friend of mine told me—and as the below video from Twitter user @TheDanielBato confirms, Jones turned to the crowd and gave them a notice that his live hit was two minutes away, setting them up to be loud and proud on-air.
Once the clip circulated, Jones’ on-air mockery drew swift outrage from Serbs and Djokovic fans. Leading Serbian tennis journalist Sasa Ozmo of Sportklub had already received a statement from Jones about Friday evening’s incident well before Djokovic made his own displeasure with it known on Sunday:
“Unfortunately, my ‘humor’ 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.” Jones told Sport Club and added:
"If you watch our morning show, you would get an idea of how we work,” Jones added. “At no point did I think to show disrespect to Novak and I apologize—there was certainly no intention to offend him."
It’s also unclear if Djokovic had seen that comment, or perhaps if he didn’t think it rose to the standard of “public apology” he said he is awaiting.
This wasn’t Jones’ first awkward viral moment at the Australian Open, which gives me a chance to share one of my favorite Australian TV moments.
In 2019 while anchoring Nine’s Today show, Jones said that he liked the Australian Open because “it’s like our own little Europe for two weeks.”
Jones’ co-panelist Tom Steinfort then piped up from across the table to offer a correction: “Fair few people from Asia as well here,” Steinfort said, chidingly.
Jones was flabbergasted by the fast fact-check during a fluffy bit of pre-dawn prattling. “OK, there’s some Asians here as well, Tom,” allowed Jones with exasperation.
Danielle Collins and Novak Djokovic Have This Guy in Common, Too
I wrote a couple days ago at Bounces about Danielle Collins, and how Novak Djokovic professed his gushing admiration for her combative outspokenness against a hostile crowd.
When I asked Collins on Saturday after her third round loss about Djokovic’s endorsement and if she knew of any new admirers she had gained, Collins instead mentioned a new detractor she’d seen.
“I love this old guy…Tony? Tony Jones?” Collins began. “This old—he’s very—sorry, everybody in the room that’s over, like, 70—sorry. Sorry!
“I just love how he called me a ‘Brat!’” Collins continued. “It's just so Gen Z and Millennial right now with Charli XCX.”
Though it certainly hadn’t been Jones intended reference, Collins was connecting the remark to Charli XCX’s Album of the Summer, “Brat,” and then said she wanted Jones to do the viral “Apple” dance from the track of the same name with her.
“I really want him to do the dance,” Collins said of Jones, causing me to attempt the Apple dance from my seat in the press room for the first and probably last time.
“Yeah,” Collins said, confirming the choreography. “He has to do it. I really want to get a one-on-one with him. And we gotta do the dance.”
NB: This late-developing story pre-empted planned publication of a Bounces interview with an Australian Open quarterfinalist, which I will bring to you soon, well before the relevant quarterfinal match.
After the paywall here, picks of matches to watch on Day 9 at the 2025 Australian Open.
Thanks for reading and subscribing to Bounces! -Ben
Australian Open Day 8 Matches to Watch:
All times local to Melbourne.
No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 13 Holger Rune — 2 p.m. on Rod Laver Arena
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