VETERAN sports presenter Tony Jones will not cover Wimbledon for Channel Nine in the wake of his fallout with tennis megastar Novak Djokovic.
Jones, a longtime presenter for the Australian network, has been left out of the lineup prior to the Grand Slam.
It comes five months after his feud with at the Australian Open.
The 63-year-old sparked controversy at Melbourne Park with comments about Djokovic before the 24-time Grand Slam winner’s fourth-round match against Jiri Lehecka.
Standing in front of a vocal group of singing Serbian fans, Jones said: “Welcome back to Melbourne Park, where you can see the Novak Djokovic fans, they’re in full voice. The chants are quite extraordinary.”;
He then went on to sing: “Novak, he’s overrated. Novak’s a has-been. Novak, kick him out.
“Boy, I’m glad they can’t hear me. Anyway, let’s get on to thetennis.“
His comments with Channel Nine.
The megastar went on to say in his press conference: “A couple of days ago the famous sports journalist who works for official broadcaster, Channel 9 here in Australia, made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me.
“And since then, he chose not to issue any public apology. Neither did Channel 9. So since they’re official broadcasters, I chose not to give interviews for Channel 9.”;
He concluded: “I leave it to Channel 9 to handle this the way they think they see fit. That’s all.”;
Following the announcement from Djokovic, .
He said: “I contacted the Djokovic camp and issued an apology to them, this was 48 hours ago, for any disrespect that Novak felt that I caused.
“I stand by that apology to Novak, if he felt any disrespect, that quite clearly he does. To the Serbian fans, we have built up a nice rapport over the year. They bring flags, so much colour, passion and there was banter.
“What I thought I was doing was an extension of that banter. Quite clearly it has not been interpreted that way. I feel that I have let down the Serbian fans and I am not saying this to try and wriggle out of trouble. I genuinely feel for those fans.
“If I could turn back time, and I know we have all got PhD’s in hindsight, where I over-stepped the mark, certainly what has angered Novak’s camp, is the last comment ‘kick him out’.
“That has angered Novak, that I completely understand. It has been a personal angst for Novak and for me as well. The priority is now to focus on the tennis.
“I can only again tell Novak what I told him 48 hours ago, which is I do apologise if he felt that I disrespected him.”;
With Jones absent from coverage of Wimbledon – which starts next Monday – Channel Nine will be fronted by Todd Woodbridge, Alicia Molik, Sam McClure and Jelena Dokic.
The draws for Wimbledon are scheduled to take place on Friday morning.
