- Tony Jones axed from Nine’s coverage of Wimbledon
- He clashed with Novak Djokovic during Australian Open
Veteran Channel Nine sports anchor Tony Jones will not be part of the network’s Wimbledon coverage this year after being involved in a controversy with Novak Djokovic during the Australian Open.
Jones has been a longtime Wimbledon presenter for the broadcaster, but he will be watching the British grand slam from Melbourne this year.
Nine will be using its London bureau during the tournament and will be flying local experts Todd Woodbridge, Alicia Molik, Sam McClure and Jelena Dokic over for commentary.
Jones sparked controversy in January during a broadcast of the Australian Open when he made remarks about Djokovic and his Serbian fans, including the phrase ‘kick him out,’ which many interpreted as referencing Djokovic’s 2021 deportation from Australia.
‘Novak’s overrated. Novak’s a has-been. Novak, kick him out… Boy, I’m glad they can’t hear me,’ he said.
Djokovic called the comments disrespectful and later boycotted a courtside interview with the broadcaster until he received a public apology from Jones.
Nine sports anchor Tony Jones (pictured) will not be part of the network’s Wimbledon coverage this year
Jones angered tennis champion Novak Djokovic (pictured) with comments he made to his supporters at this year’s Australian Open
‘If I could turn back time, right, and 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 sort of angered Novak Djokovic and his camp, is the last comment I made in that back and forth with the crowd — ‘kick him out’,’ Jones said on Nine.
‘Now, I can stand here and put whatever spin on that, but it can only be interpreted as a throwback to the COVID years when he [Djokovic] was kicked out [over his vaccination status].
‘Now, that has angered Novak, which I completely understand now. So look, it has been an unfortunate situation. It’s been one of personal angst for Novak.
‘It’s quite clearly personal angst for me as well. But I just think the priority here now is to focus on the tennis again.’
Nine also issued an apology over the incident: ‘Nine would like to apologise to Novak Djokovic for any offence caused from comments made during a recent live cross. No harm was intended towards Novak or his fans.’
Serbia’s ambassador to Australia, Rade Stefanovic, also expressed his ‘profound concern’ to Channel Nine at the time.
Djokovic launched a boycott of Channel Nine media commitments and demanded a public apology from Jones
In a statement, the ambassador said: ‘The Embassy of the Republic of Serbia considers Mr Jones’ comments [to be] totally inappropriate and disrespectful.
‘Never has an Australian athlete been insulted and disrespected in such a way by the media or any public official in Serbia.’
The tournament is set to start later this week, with the Serb superstar looking to match Roger Federer’s record of eight titles at the event.
