Novak Djokovic has been doing his utmost to focus on his tennis at the Australian Open, but plenty of distraction has arisen regarding his media duties.
Djokovic refused an on-court interview after his victory over Jiri Lehecka, having taken offence to comments from Channel 9’s Tony Jones.
Serbian legend Djokovic says he will accept a fine if one goes his way at the Australian Open, having given a quick speech on court before making a swift exit after his round four win.
Djokovic now faces a tantalising quarter-final clash against Carlos Alcaraz in Melbourne, with the pair having last met in the Olympic final last summer.
The veteran will want all of his focus to be on the task at hand as he chases a 25th Grand Slam title, but many within the world of tennis have instead been focusing on his recent interview refusal.
Darren Cahill and Patrick McEnroe defend Novak Djokovic’s on-court interview rejection
They have, however, jumped to the defence of Djokovic, with Jannik Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill saying on ESPN: “Tony Jones, he works in 9News here in Melbourne.
“He hosts a footy show also, which is quite a funny, laughing breakdown football show for Australian Rules Football, which is very popular here.
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“He’s been in the industry for years and years. I’m sure Tony was trying to be funny, but it was inappropriate, and I don’t blame Novak for taking offence to that.
“And especially what Novak went through, through the covid year back here as well, considering how badly he was treated by the government here and then sent home without being able to play.
“Yeah, I think that Novak was well within his rights to ask for an apology, and perfectly makes sense now what he did on the court.”
Also sharing his thoughts on ESPN was Patrick McEnroe, who said: “All I have to say is good for Novak for speaking up, because that, to me, was just an idiotic statement, idiotic comment by Tony, and Novak has every right to be annoyed.
“I mean, he could be President of Serbia, they’ve talked about that possibility happening, and it just got even greater okay with the way he handled that.
“His pride for his people and his country, he’s literally an icon in his own country, as well he should be, so he had every right to make that stand and take the stand that he did.”
Tim Henman excited for ‘bizarre’ Australian Open clash between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz
Djokovic is now heading for an eighth ATP Tour career meeting with Alcaraz, having won that Olympic gold medal match in Paris to move their record to 4-3 in his favour.
But that came directly after the Spaniard beat the Serbian in the Wimbledon final, in what was a repeat result of the same final the year before.
Remarkably, this will be the earliest they have ever met in a tournament, having played four finals and three semi-finals.
Such a situation has intrigued former British number one Tim Henman, who shared his verdict on Djokovic after Jones issued an apology for his comments.
“That is always his prerogative,” Henman said on Eurosport. “He has always stood up for his beliefs and we respect that.
“There has always been a little bit of that, when you are looking for that confrontation, I think Novak plays better.
“He said his piece, the apology I think has been accepted, and now we can really focus on what is an exciting quarter-final against Alcaraz.
“It seems slightly bizarre for me to say Djokovic versus Alcaraz in the quarter-final because we have seen it in Grand Slam finals and Olympic finals, so I certainly know what I want to focus on and that’s the tennis because they are both playing great.”
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