Listening to whistles, without granting an interview at the foot of the court, and after signing autographs for the fans stationed on the sides of the locker room tunnel, Novak Djokovic left the Rod Laver Arena. A controversy that the Serbian has settled at a press conference: He refused to do it because of the “insulting and offensive comments” and the mockery. to the Serbian fans of a local journalist.
“A couple of days ago a famous sports journalist who works for the official broadcaster, Channel 9, here in Australia, He mocked the Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me“explained the former world number 1, after beating Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4 and 7-6 (4) to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Since then, he added, the journalist has not offered “any public apology” and “neither has Channel 9”so, “as they are official stations, I chose not to give interviews for Channel.”
Former player Jim Courier waited for Djokovic at the end of the match to, as is customary, gather his first impressions of the match, but Nole limited himself to taking the microphone to simply say that He appreciated the support of the public and that they would see each other in the next round. He then left without accepting any questions.
“I have nothing against Jim Courier or the Australian public. It was a very uncomfortable situation. But obviously there wasn’t the time, space or situation to explain what I’m doing right now. I’ll let Channel 9 handle this the way they see fit. That’s all,” he concluded.
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