Follow along for all the major moments and reactions as the 2025 Australian Open reaches day eight.
Follow along for all the major moments and reactions as the 2025 Australian Open reaches day eight.
UPDATED: Novak Djokovic skipped an on-court interview with Channel Nine after his win at the Australian Open on Sunday night because he was aggrieved by comments made by the host broadcaster’s sports anchor Tony Jones he deemed to be “insulting and offensive”.
The 10-times Australian Open champion chose not to speak on court to Jim Courier after booking his spot in the quarter-finals.
“A couple of days ago a famous sports journalist who works for official broadcaster Channel Nine here in Australia made a mockery of Serbian fans, and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me,” Djokovic said.
“Since then he chose not to issue an official public apology. Neither did Channel Nine.”
Djokovic told media he would continue his boycott until he gets an apology.
His action stemmed from footage of presenter Jones doing a cross from Melbourne Park with flag-waving supporters in the background.
The footage has been circulating widely on social media.
In it, Jones references the Serbians fans, but also makes several references about Djokovic, including “Novak, kick him out” – in reference to the former world No.1’s deportation from Australia three years ago.
“The Novak Djokovic fans there in full voice,” Jones says in the video.
“The chants are quite extraordinary.”
He then chants the following: “Novak, he’s overrated. “Novak’s a has-been … Novak, kick him out.
“Boy, I’m glad they can’t hear me.”
Djokovic insisted that his complaint was only about the behaviour of Jones.
“I have nothing against Jim Courier, neither the Australian public. And it was a very awkward situation for me to face the court today,” he said.
Nine is the owner of this masthead. The network has been contacted for comment.
Tony Jones has also been contacted for comment.
Tennis Australia was contacted for comment.
UPDATE: Novak Djokovic has posted a video on social media to fans explaining his actions tonight and asking Nine for an apology before his next match.
At the end of the video, he said he hopes for an apology before his next match.
“I have to stand by my decision and hold this stance until something is done,” Djokovic said in his video.
“That thing is done, so I leave it to Channel Nine and, hopefully, that situation will change for the next match.”
UPDATED: Novak Djokovic skipped an on-court interview with Channel Nine after his win at the Australian Open on Sunday night because he was aggrieved by comments made by the host broadcaster’s sports anchor Tony Jones he deemed to be “insulting and offensive”.
The 10-times Australian Open champion chose not to speak on court to Jim Courier after booking his spot in the quarter-finals.
“A couple of days ago a famous sports journalist who works for official broadcaster Channel Nine here in Australia made a mockery of Serbian fans, and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me,” Djokovic said.
“Since then he chose not to issue an official public apology. Neither did Channel Nine.”
Djokovic told media he would continue his boycott until he gets an apology.
His action stemmed from footage of presenter Jones doing a cross from Melbourne Park with flag-waving supporters in the background.
The footage has been circulating widely on social media.
In it, Jones references the Serbians fans, but also makes several references about Djokovic, including “Novak, kick him out” – in reference to the former world No.1’s deportation from Australia three years ago.
“The Novak Djokovic fans there in full voice,” Jones says in the video.
“The chants are quite extraordinary.”
He then chants the following: “Novak, he’s overrated. “Novak’s a has-been … Novak, kick him out.
“Boy, I’m glad they can’t hear me.”
Djokovic insisted that his complaint was only about the behaviour of Jones.
“I have nothing against Jim Courier, neither the Australian public. And it was a very awkward situation for me to face the court today,” he said.
Nine is the owner of this masthead. The network has been contacted for comment.
Tony Jones has also been contacted for comment.
Tennis Australia was contacted for comment.
Novak Djokovic has elaborated on his decision to skip an on-court interview with Channel Nine, explaining his move was because of “insulting and offensive comments” made by a prominent member of the network.
“A couple of days ago a famous sports journalist who works for official broadcaster Channel Nine here in Australia made a mockery of Serbian fans, and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me,” Djokovic said.
“Since then he chose not to issue an official public apology. Neither did Channel Nine.
“A have nothing against Jim Courier, neither the Australian public. And it was a very awkward situation for me to face the court today.”
More to come.
UPDATED: Novak Djokovic told media tonight that he didn’t do the post game chat with broadcaster Nine due to a problem with the network.
When asked if the crowd said anything that angered him, Djokovic said no and that his issue was with Nine and comments made by a Nine anchor on the network about Serbian fans in past days.
“It’s nothing that stands out or is extraordinary, every match something different happens,” Djokovic said.
“It was for the Channel Nine situation.”
Nine is the owner of this masthead and has been contacted for comment.
More to come.
We are still waiting to see when Novak Djokovic will do his post match press conference, he is clearly fuming, perhaps with those members of the crowd who heckled and interjected tonight.
He only clapped the Serbian fans gathered in one corner and he declined to do a post match interview on the court before leaving.
What happens after matches is tournament staff and the players and their team arrange a time, usually within an hour of the match finishing, for the player to do a press conference.
Lehecka is due to speak shortly while we are still waiting for a time for Djokovic’s appearance.
Those who follow this blog will remember that Daniil Medvedev declined to do his interview after being eliminated earlier in the week which led to a fine.
But it is very, very rare for a winning player to refuse to speak to media, so I would expect Djokovic will speak at some point before midnight, but time will tell.
More than a little bit of drama at Melbourne Park after Novak Djokovic shirked his on-court interview after his fourth round victory to reach yet another Australian Open quarter-final.
10-times champion Djokovic has just been spotted in a lengthy discussion with tournament boss Craig Tiley in the Melbourne Park corridors.
Watch this space ….
Fresh from his fourth-round victory over Jiri Lehecka, Novak Djokovic has marked the Christian holiday of Epiphany, celebrated today by the Serbian Orthodox Church.
He shunned the post-match interview, but wrote “Bog se javi” (God reveals himself) in Serbian Cyrillic script on the camera after the match, a greeting marking Epiphany, which falls on January 19 under the Julian calendar followed by the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Churches following the Gregorian calendar, including some Orthodox ones, celebrate Epiphany on January 6.
Last week, on January 7, Djokovic celebrated Orthodox Christmas with his family in Melbourne and sent a holiday greeting on his social media accounts.
He was also spotted attending a Christmas liturgy at the Serbian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity in Brunswick.
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