Novak Djokovic has accepted Channel 9 host Tony Jones' apology after publicly revealing that he ditched an on-court interview at the Australian Open after feeling disrespected.
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Following Sunday's win over Jiri Lehecka, the Serb just briefly thanked the crowd for coming to watch and went his way.
When he arrived in the press room - before receiving any questions - Djokovic started by clarifying that he purposely avoided an on-court interview with Channel 9 because he felt one of their hosts made some insulting remarks.
A couple of days earlier, Jones - while on air and with Serbian fans standing behind him - said that they were chanting "Novak, he's overrated" and "Novak's a has-been."
Shortly after the press was over, the host, as well as Channel 9, apologized.
"Novak acknowledges the apology has been given in public as requested, and is now moving on and focusing on his next match," a statement released through Tennis Australia said.
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How Jones apologized to Djokovic?
According to the host, he was joking and absolutely didn't mean to disrespect the record 24-time Grand Slam champion or his fans.
However, he apologized after learning that the former world No. 1 was not happy with his comments.
"The comments were made on the news on the Friday night, which I considered to be banter. I considered it to be humor, which is consistent with most things I do," Jones said.
"Having said that, I was made aware on Saturday morning, from Tennis Australia via the Djokovic camp, that the Novak camp was not happy at all with those comments. As such I immediately contacted the Novak camp and issued and apology to them - 48 hours ago - for any disrespect that Novak felt, that I had caused."
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In his message, the host also directly apologized to Serbian fans and repeated that he was only joking and didn't intend to disrespect them.
