MELBOURNE, Australia — The presenter at the center of Novak Djokovic’s decision to boycott on-court interviews at the Australian Open has apologized to the 24-time Grand Slam champion, saying that he “overstepped the mark.”

Channel 9 presenter Tony Jones was overlooking a group of Serbian fans while recording a dispatch from Melbourne Park Friday night. Joining in with their chants in support of Djokovic, he added his own lyrics: “Novak is overrated … Novak’s a has-been … Novak kick him out.”

The “kick him out” comment appeared to refer to when Djokovic was deported from Australia ahead of the 2022 tournament, after the government canceled his visa over Covid-19 protocols.

“I considered it to be humor,” Jones said in a segment on Channel 9’s morning show.

He then claimed that he apologized to Djokovic’s camp on the Saturday morning, before adding: “The disrespect extended in many ways to the Serbian fans … I thought what I was doing was an extension of that banter. Quite clearly what I was doing wasn’t interpreted that way.

“I know we’ve all got PhDs in hindsight … I think the one thing where I overstepped the mark — and this is certainly what’s really angered Novak Djokovic and his camp — is the last comment I made in that back-and-forth with the crowd, ‘Kick him out.’”

Jones then claimed that he had asked Djokovic’s camp for a face-to-face meeting to discuss his comments.

Djokovic’s camp did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Jones’ claim that he apologized Saturday. A member of his team told The Athletic that any face-to-face meeting would be Djokovic’s call, but the suggestion is that it would be unlikely at this stage of a major.

The situation between Jones and Djokovic escalated after Djokovic’s fourth-round win over Jiri Lehecka on Rod Laver Arena Sunday night, when Djokovic declined to do an on-court interview with ex-player Jim Courier. When he entered his post-match news conference, he explained that the boycott was prompted by what he called “insulting and offensive” comments from Jones.

“A couple of 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 they’re official broadcasters, I chose not to give interviews for Channel 9,” he said.

Djokovic will return to Rod Laver Arena Tuesday, for his quarterfinal against Carlos Alcaraz. He is yet to respond to Jones’ apology.

‘How will this affect Djokovic on the court?’

Analysis from tennis writer Charlie Eccleshare

For someone who is never more dangerous than when raging against an injustice, whether perceived or real, this row will impact Djokovic’s bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title.

If you were Carlos Alcaraz, would you want to be facing Djokovic as he enters Rod Laver Arena with a burning sense of injustice?

Djokovic played down the idea that Jones’ comments would add motivation over the next few days, but the passion with which he spoke about the incident underlined how much it has upset him. Djokovic is an extremely proud Serb — he said winning the Olympic gold in Paris last year against Alcaraz was the pinnacle of his career — and he relishes playing in an atmosphere where he is both hero and villain to some of the spectators.

His coach, Andy Murray, said before the tournament that having a bit of fire on the court is no bad thing, and that’s often the case with Djokovic.

The speed with which Jones has apologized and the issue has seemingly been resolved may be less helpful. Fans booed off the court when he refused his on-court interview after beating Lehecka, and at that point it felt like he was entering pantomime villain territory. Fans will now be more understanding, and the deflation of the tension may impact the fever of the atmosphere when he faces Alcaraz Tuesday.

Djokovic wants to win this title so desperately that the incident may ultimately have little impact, but it feels impossible now that he’ll come out flat against Alcaraz as he did against Jannik Sinner in the semifinal here 12 months ago.

(Photo: Andy Cheung / Getty Images)