Questions are being asked about why Australian Open boss Craig Tiley didn’t contact Novak Djokovic or his camp prior to his decision to boycott Channel 9 over Tony Jones’ comments. And new claims have emerged that Djokovic used it as a calculated move to draw the focus away from his poor chances of beating Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday night.

Djokovic has accepted a public apology from Jones and Channel 9 over remarks he deemed “insulting and offensive” when the TV veteran told Serbian fans: “Novak’s overrated…Novak’s a has-been…kick him out.” Jones conceded the “kick him out” remark was over the line because it was a clear reference to Djokovic being deported from Australia in 2022.

Tennis Australia released a statement on Monday afternoon stating that Djokovic had accepted the apology, although it’s unknown whether he’ll speak to Channel 9 should he beat Alcaraz on Tuesday night. On Monday evening, new details came to light about the situation, including the staggering revelation that Tennis Australia and Australian Open boss Tiley failed to contact Djokovic when he learned of his anger at Jones’ comments.

According to Scott Gullan of News Corp, Tiley was made aware of the situation between Djokovic and Jones on Saturday morning, but believed it had been resolved when Jones contacted Djokovic’s camp to offer a private apology. However Tiley only spoke to Djokovic for the first time after the 24-time grand slam champion refused to speak with Jim Courier for an on-court interview on Sunday night.

“This seems strange given the pair are supposedly very close – remember it was Tiley who moved heaven and earth to get the tennis champion into the country during the 2022 Covid scandal before it all went pear-shaped,” Gullan wrote. “Clearly Tiley got the vibe that Djokovic’s people were under control and the heat had been taken out of the situation.”

Did Novak Djokovic use boycott as a ‘diversion tactic’?

Jones revealed on Monday morning that he’d contacted Djokovic and his camp on Saturday to apologise for his remarks, but the Serbian star wanted Jones and Channel 9 to make a public apology rather than one in private. When that didn’t come he made the decision to snub Courier’s on-court interview to make a grand statement about how aggrieved he felt over the remarks.

One chain of thought is Djokovic wanted to bring the situation to a bigger spotlight by boycotting Channel 9, which would never have occurred if he simply accepted the apology in private. But according to Gullan it might have been a calculated move from Djokovic to create a controversy that would take the heat off himself leading into his quarter-final clash with Alcaraz.

Djokovic is known to pick a battle with fans in the crowd or manufacture a controversy that he can use as extra motivation to win. Gullan wrote on Monday: “Was this another Djokovic diversion tactic? He’s done this before, putting the spotlight on something else – like an injury – which he then uses in an ‘us-against-the world’ motivational tool.

“It’s clearly worked in the past…and what the post-match interview snub stunt has done is put to the side the fact he’s facing a major uphill battle in the quarter-finals against reigning French (Open) and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz. The odds are stacked against the 37-year-old in that match-up. He knows it and maybe taking on ‘Chompers’ was a good way to switch the narrative and get the fans behind him.”

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Alcaraz will be heavy favourite against Djokovic on Tuesday night (from 8.10pm AEDT), despite the fact the Serbian star has won the Australian Open 10 times. Alcaraz only needs the Australian Open title to complete a career Grand Slam.