Novak Djokovic delivered a commanding performance in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Wednesday, defeating Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to reaffirm his status as one of the top contenders in Melbourne. With showing his remarkable performance, controversy surrounding him has been hard to avoid. From being labeled “overrated” by Channel 9 presenter to his team’s actions in covering the camera in the player box during the match, the spotlight has not only been on his tennis but also on the off-court drama unfolding in the 2025 tournament.
After Novak Djokovic’s victory over Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round, which set up a quarterfinal clash against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, the usual post-match on-court interview followed. However, Djokovic declined to refused to talk about the match with celebrated presenter Jim Courier. Later, he posted a video explaing the same and said, “The reason why I chose not to do that is that a few days ago, a famous sports journalist from here in Australia, who works for a main broadcaster of the Australian Open – Channel 9 – decided to mock Serbian fans, and he made insulting and offensive comments towards me.”
During an on-air appearance at Melbourne Park where crowd was cheering and chanting Novak’s name in support, Jones said, “Back to Melbourne Park, where you can see the Novak Djokovic fans in full voice. Yeah their chants are quite extraordinary.” “Novak, he’s overrated!! Novaks it has been! ” “Novak, kick him out!,” adding that “Boy, I’m glad they can’t hear me.”
Australia’s Nine Network then issued a statement and apologised to Djokovic “for any offense caused from comments made during a recent live cross.” While appearing on the Today program, Tony apologised and said, “I considered it to be humour, which is consistent with most things I do. Having said that, I was made aware … that the Djokovic camp was not happy at all with those comments.”
