Australian broadcaster Tony Jones has apologized to Novak Djokovic for comments he made on Friday night that the 10-time Australian Open champion considered ‘insulting and offensive.’
Djokovic even went as far as boycotting the traditional on-court interview following his fourth-round win on Sunday, saying he wouldn’t speak to the tournament’s Australian rights holder, Channel Nine, until Jones apologized.
A crowd of Serbian fans had collected outside Channel Nine’s broadcast booth at Melbourne Park on Friday, as Jones called the 24-time Grand Slam champion ‘overrated’ and a ‘has been.’ Jones originally insisted he was joking with the crowd, but later issued a private apology to the ‘Djokovic camp’ when it became clear his comments weren’t taken in jest.
‘I can stand by that apology to Novak,’ he said. ‘We have built up a nice rapport with the Serbian fans … and there was banter, and I thought what I was doing was an extension of that banter. Quite clearly that has not been interpreted that way.’
Tennis Australia said Djokovic, who takes on world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, wanted to move on from the issue.
‘It has been an unfortunate situation, it has been one of personal angst for Novak,’ Jones added, ‘It’s quite clearly personal angst for me as well.’
Jannik Sinner survives stifling heat, Gael Monfils succumbs
Jannik Sinner battled through illness and reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Monday but the physical demands of Grand Slam tennis proved too much for French veteran Gael Monfils and American teenager Learner Tien.
The stifling heat did not help defending champion Sinner when he started struggling physically in the second set of his fourth-round clash with Dane Holger Rune on a steamy afternoon at Rod Laver Arena.
The top seed did not want to go into detail on what was ailing him but admitted to having dizzy spells before a lengthy medical timeout in the third set that proved a turning point in his 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.
‘I wasn’t feeling really well,’ said 23-year-old Sinner, who equaled the Italian record set by Nicky Pietrangeli by reaching his 10th Grand Slam quarterfinal.
‘I think we saw that today, I was struggling physically. Came here as late as possible. I knew that it was going to be very, very difficult today.’
Monfils, 38, was forced to retire with his own back issue while trailing American young gun Ben Shelton 7-6 (3,) 6-7( 3,) 7-6 (2), 1-0, ending an inspired run at the year’s first Grand Slam after his Auckland triumph.
Unseeded Lorenzo Sonego made it two Italians in the men’s quarterfinals when he defeated hobbling 19-year-old American qualifier Tien in four sets, having also taken out Brazilian young gun Joao Fonseca in the second round.
Tien, who was bidding to become the youngest man to reach the quarters since Goran Ivanisevic did it as a 17-year-old in 1989, stretched his strapped right thigh after a double fault and never looked comfortable physically.
Iga Swiatek, Emma Navarro, Madison Keys advance
A ruthless Iga Swiatek slammed the door shut on German lucky loser Eva Lys with a 6-0, 6-1 win on Monday to breeze into the quarterfinals of the year’s opening Grand Slam for the second time.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek came into the match having lost only 10 games in the tournament and the Pole sent out another warning to her title rivals by dismantling Lys in 59 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
‘Great, that was my first night session and I’m glad I have the chance to play on Rod Laver Arena,’ Swiatek said.
Meanwhile, American Madison Keys upset sixth seed Elena Rybakina 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in a roller-coaster match at Margaret Court Arena, extending her win streak to nine matches this year.
Rybakina seemed to be struggling with a lower back injury that had affected her in the third round and Keys was able to play aggressively to neutralize her big serve and take control of the rallies.
‘Her serve is such a weapon, so I knew that if I could just try to make at least some of her service games a little bit competitive, then I had a chance,’ said the 19th seeded Keys, who chalked up her third win over a top-10 player this month.
Australian Open Day 9 results
Men’s singles
1-Jannik Sinner (ITA) beat 13-Holger Rune (DNK) 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2
8-Alex De Minaur (AUS) beat Alex Michelsen (USA) 6-0 7-6(5) 6-3
21-Ben Shelton (USA) beat Gael Monfils (FRA) 7-6(3) 6-7(3) 7-6(2) (Retired)
Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) beat Learner Tien (USA) 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-1
Women’s singles
19-Madison Keys (USA) beat 6-Elena Rybakina (KAZ) 6-3 1-6 6-3
28-Elina Svitolina (UKR) beat Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) 6-4 6-1
8-Emma Navarro (USA) beat 9-Daria Kasatkina (RUS) 6-4 5-7 7-5
2-Iga Swiatek (POL) beat Eva Lys (DEU) 6-0 6-1