During one of his interviews, Tony Jones of Channel Nine made comments that provoked Novak Djokovic to boycott their coverage of the Australian Open, hence the apology. After Djokovic's victory over Lehecka in the first round of the Australian Open on Sunday, he opted not to do an on court interview with the media.

Djokovic has put further pressure on Jones by demanding an apology for insultingly chastising him on the Friday evening show. He proceeded to imitate by exclaiming, "Novak, he's overrated, Novak's a has-been, Novak kick him out."

Jones claimed that the comments were made in good fun and that he took the apology seriously. He contends that by the time he reached Novak Djokovic’s camp on Saturday, he had already shown remorse for the comments. While talking with his colleagues on Channel Nine on Monday he spoke, "I'm disappointed it come to this because the comments were made on the news on the Friday night which I considered to be banter and humour – which is consistent with what I do.

But, when I was contacted on Saturday morning by Tennis Australia, through the Djokovic camp, I sensed that they were not pleased with those comments."

“I reached out to them, the Djokovic camp, and issued an apology, 48 hours ago. Perhaps there is an element of disrespect which Novak feels I had caused. So I sincerely apologize for it.

“Right now, if there is a feeling of some disrespect on the part of Novak, then I stand by my apology. This is especially relevant because he certainly seems to feel that way.’”

“The Serbian fans are also part of the disrespect. Over the years, they have brought so much color to this place accompanied by passion and amusing banter, which is why I thought that was an extension of this banter. Clearly, that has not been interpreted that way."

In an effort to dig himself out of this trouble, ‘I do feel I have let down the Serbian fans,’ clearly makes no sense. Actually, ‘Those are the true fans I can feel bad for.’

Last year, Djokovic did not manage to secure a single grand slam. This year, he is clearly looking to make his mark early in 2025. For now, he has already reached the quarterfinal of the Australian Open and is up against Carlos Alcaraz.