Novak Djokovic started off his post-match presser at the Australian Open by issuing an important statement and clarifying that he skipped the traditional on-court interview because he was boycotting Channel 9 following the remarks of their host Tony Jones.
A couple of days ago, Jones was on air while Serbian fans were chanting behind him.
At one moment, the host pretended like he was translating their words from Serbian and he said that the chants were, "Novak, he's overrated" and "Novak's a has-been."
On Sunday, Djokovic was in action again and he saw off Jiri Lehecka 6-3 6-4 7-6 (4) to set up an Australian Open quarterfinal against Carlos Alcaraz.
But when American tennis legend Jim Courier approached the Serb for a common on-court interview, the 37-year-old just expressed gratitude to the fans for coming to watch him and that was it.
The fans reacted by booing the record 10-time Australian Open winner.
Djokovic: Jones made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting comments towards me
I would like to just clarify the reason why the interview was not conducted on the court, the post-match interview, like its a common, usual practice, the Serbian tennis starsaid.
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 theyre official broadcasters, I chose not to give interviews for Channel 9. I have nothing against Jim Courier or neither the Australian public.
I leave it to Channel 9 to handle this the way they think they see fit. Thats all.
In his presser, Djokovic also said it was "an awkward situation for me" and that it wasn't the right place for him to stand there and explain to fans why he was snubbing the on-court interview.
