Nine issues public apology Channel Nine has released a statement following Tony Jones’ on-air apology this morning. 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. We look forward to further showcasing his Australian Open campaign at Melbourne Park.
Speaking on Nine this morning, Jones said he stood by the apology to Djokovic and Serbian fans he had issued to the Djokovic camp after the Serbian star refused the on-court interview following his fourth-round victory last night, over Jones’ comments about him and Serbian fans that he had branded insulting. Jones said on Nine: “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’. “Now, I can stand here and put whatever spin on in 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’s 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.”
以下是琼斯道歉节选 On Monday morning, Jones said he considered his on-air remarks "banter" or "humour" but that he contacted Djokovic's camp to apologise 48 hours ago, as soon as he found out "the Djokovic camp was not happy at all with those comments". 周一早上,琼斯表示,他认为自己的直播言论是“玩笑”或“幽默”,但当他发现“德约科维奇阵营对这些言论根本不满意”时,他在 48 小时前就联系了德约科维奇的阵营道歉。 ”。 "As I stand here now, I stand by that apology to Novak, if he felt any disrespect, which quite clearly he does," Jones told Nine. 琼斯告诉九号台:“当我现在站在这里时,如果诺瓦克感到任何不尊重,我会坚持向他道歉,他显然是这么做的。” "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." “这激怒了诺瓦克,我现在完全理解了。所以看,这是一个不幸的情况,这是诺瓦克的个人焦虑之一。这对我来说显然也是个人焦虑,但我认为现在的首要任务是再次专注于网球。” Jones said he had already offered to meet Djokovic for a face-to-face apology. 琼斯表示,他已经提出要与德约科维奇会面,当面道歉。 "I can only again tell Novak what I told him 48 hours ago and that is I do apologise if he felt that I disrespected," he said. “我只能再次告诉诺瓦克我 48 小时前告诉他的话,如果他觉得我不尊重,我会道歉,”他说。