Novak Djokovic, Monday, reacted to the public apology from Australian media broadcaster Tony Jones and said that he is ready to “move on” from the incident and focus on the next match at the 2025 Australian Open, where he faces Carlos Alcaraz.
In a statement released by Tennis Australia, it said that Djokovic “acknowledged” that the apology was made in public by Jones, who earlier on Friday passed on-air comments deemed to be “insulting and offensive”. He felt Jones "made a mockery" of Serbian fans during a live TV broadcast last week. The remarks led to Djokovic boycotting the on-court interview on Sunday after his fourth-round win. He
“Novak Djokovic acknowledges the apology has been given in public as requested, and is now moving on and focusing on his next match," read the statement.
Earlier on Monday, Jones apologised to the 24-time Grand Slam winner during the Today Show. However, he claimed that he had attempted to mend the bridges with Djokovic on Saturday, where he reached out to him after being made aware that the his words did not sit well with the 10-time Australian Open winner.
“The comments were made on the news on the Friday night, which I considered to be banter. I considered it to be humour, which is consistent with most things I do,” he said. “Having said that, I was made aware on Saturday morning, from Tennis Australia via the Djokovic camp, that the Djokovic camp was not happy at all with those comments. As such I immediately contacted the Djokovic camp and issued and apology to them - 48 hours ago - for any disrespect that Novak felt, that I had caused.
{{/usCountry}}“The comments were made on the news on the Friday night, which I considered to be banter. I considered it to be humour, which is consistent with most things I do,” he said. “Having said that, I was made aware on Saturday morning, from Tennis Australia via the Djokovic camp, that the Djokovic camp was not happy at all with those comments. As such I immediately contacted the Djokovic camp and issued and apology to them - 48 hours ago - for any disrespect that Novak felt, that I had caused.
{{/usCountry}}“As I stand here now I can only stand by that apology to Novak. I should also say the disrespect was extended, in many ways, to the Serbian fans. We have built up a nice rapport with the Serbian fans... there is banter, and I thought what I was doing was an extension of that banter. Quite clearly that has not been interpreted that way. I feel as though I’ve let down the Serbian fans. It has been an unfortunate situation.”
Djokovic will next face Alcaraz in the quarterfinals on Tuesday on the Rod Laver Arena.