Channel Nine’s Tony Jones shouted “Novak, he’s overrated, Novak’s a has-been, Novak kick him out” towards Djokovic fans while live on air at the Australian Open on Friday.

As a result, Djokovic refused to do his usual on-court interview after Sunday’s fourth-round win over Jiri Lehecka because of Channel Nine being official broadcasters of the tournament.

Speaking at a news conference afterwards, Djokovic said Jones had “made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me”.

The 37-year-old added that it “was a very awkward situation for me”.

Jones said on Channel Nine on Monday: “I’m disappointed it come to this because the comments were made on the news on the Friday night which I considered to be banter and humour – which is consistent with what I do.

“However, I was made aware on the Saturday morning from Tennis Australia, via the Djokovic camp, that the Djokovic camp was not happy at all with those comments.

“I immediately contacted the Djokovic camp and issued an apology to them – 48 hours ago – for any disrespect which Novak felt I had caused.

“As I stand here now I stand by that apology to Novak if he feels any disrespect, which he clearly does.

“The disrespect extends to the Serbian fans – over the years here there has been colour with them and passion and banter, and I thought that was an extension of that banter. Quite clearly that hasn’t been interpreted that way.

“I do feel I’ve let down the Serbian fans. I’m not just saying that to wriggle out of trouble. I genuinely feel for those fans.”

Djokovic, a 10-time champion at Melbourne Park, plays world number three Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Channel Nine also apologised, saying “no harm was intended towards Novak or his fans”.

The Serbian Council of Australia has called for Jones to be sacked, saying his comments were “offensive, racist and only serve to incite further discrimination of Australian-Serbs”.

Jones said he particularly felt he had “overstepped the mark” with his “kick him out” comment – which he accepted could be interpreted as a reference to Djokovic’s 2022 deportation from Australia because of the country’s Covid-19 regulations.

“That has angered Novak – I completely understand that,” said Jones.

“It has been an unfortunate situation and one of personal angst for Novak and personal angst for me as well. The priority now is to focus on the tennis. He has an amazing match and I hope he can focus on that.

“I can only again tell Novak what I told him 48 hours ago which is I do apologise if he feels I disrespected him.

“I agreed to meet him in person, they came back and yes, that hasn’t transpired yet but I hope it will happen in the next 24 hours.”

Tennis Australia said: “Novak acknowledges the apology has been given in public as requested and is now moving on and focusing on his next match.”

The 37-year-old Serb, who is gunning for a record 25th Grand Slam title, beat the 24th seed 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) on Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.

It sent him into the last eight at Melbourne Park for the 15th time, a record he now shares with Roger Federer and one ahead of Rafael Nadal and John Newcombe.

The win also extended his own all-time mark to 61 for most quarterfinal appearances at majors, three ahead of the Swiss great.

His reward is a showdown on Tuesday with third seed Carlos Alcaraz, who is already a four-time Slam winner aged 21 but has never gone beyond the Australian Open quarterfinals.

“We had some long battles, long exchanges,” said Djokovic, who stopped only very briefly for the post-match on-court interview, his hasty retreat getting some boos from the crowd.

“The  kind of matches that I played against him remind me of my match-ups versus Nadal in terms of the intensity and the energy on the court.

“He’s a very dynamic, explosive player. Incredibly talented. Charismatic player. Great to watch – not that great to play against,” he added with a smile.

Alcaraz, from Spain, set up the clash with Djokovic after Briton Jack Draper retired during their last-16 match when losing 7-5, 6-1.

“Being in a quarterfinal, I’m going to approach the match the same as I did in the previous matches against him, and let’s see,” said Alcaraz of Djokovic.

“When we are seeing him playing, he seems like he’s young again, so … It’s unbelievable. He’s in a really good shape.”

But Alcaraz added: “I’m just ready and I know what I have to do in quarterfinals.”

Djokovic and Alcaraz have played each other seven times, with the Serb leading 4-3, including a victory in their last clash in the Paris 2024 Olympics final.

They have crossed paths at Grand Slams three times, twice in the Wimbledon decider with the Spaniard winning on both occasions.

But they have never played at Melbourne Park, where Djokovic has achieved his greatest success.

Lehecka won the lead-up Brisbane International event, where Djokovic lost in the quarterfinals, but he was never seriously in the reckoning on the big stage.

Djokovic quickly put pressure on his serve and achieved a break in the eighth game of set one when the Czech sent down a double fault.

Another break on Lehecka’s opening serve set the tone for set two, with Djokovic dominating from the baseline.

The young Czech changed tactics in a closer set three, pushing Djokovic to the net more while picking up his serving intensity.

It went to a tiebreak where the Serb produced some stunning shots to seal the win.

Against Draper, Alcaraz was well on top when the Briton pulled the pin on a sweltering afternoon because of “multiple areas really in pain”.

The 15th seed Draper needed five sets to win his first three Melbourne matches, rallying from behind in all of them to stay in the tournament, and it finally caught up with him.

“It’s not the way I wanted to win. But obviously, I’m happy to play another quarterfinal here in Australia,” said Alcaraz.

“Physically, I’m feeling great. So coming into the second week of a Grand Slam, it is important to feel well physically because right now the matches are even tougher.”

Djokovic, who was not vaccinated against the virus, had his visa cancelled by the Australian government on “health and good order” grounds.

He was forced to stay at an immigration hotel for five days while he unsuccessfully appealed against the decision and was eventually forced to leave the country, meaning he missed the 2022 Australian Open.

Djokovic returned to Melbourne the following year, with Covid restrictions eased, and went on to win the Grand Slam for a record 10th time.

The Serb, 37, is back in Australia preparing for the 2025 tournament, which begins on Sunday.

“The last couple of times I landed in Australia, to go through passport control and immigration – I had a bit of trauma from three years ago,” Djokovic told Melbourne’s Herald Sun., external”

And some traces still stay there when I’m passing passport control, just checking out if someone from immigration zone is ­approaching.

“The person checking my passport – are they going to take me, detain me again or let me go? I must admit I have that feeling.”

He added: “I don’t hold a grudge. I came right away the year after and I won.

“My parents and whole team were there and it was actually one of the most emotional wins I’ve ever had, considering all that I’d been through the year before.

“Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said she prefers to focus on this year’s tournament.

“The responsibility of granting visas is a matter for the federal government and those decisions were made by the federal government at the time,” said Allan, who was part of a government crisis cabinet leading the Australian response to Covid in 2022 – but was not involved in the Djokovic case.

“Covid was tough for all of us. It didn’t matter who you were, where you came from, Covid didn’t discriminate in who it infected, how sick it made you and how sick it made others in our community.”

Australia prime minister Anthony Albanese criticised the previous government’s handling of the situation, particularly the decision to deny Djokovic access to an Orthodox priest in the build-up to Christmas, which is celebrated on 7 January by most Orthodox Christians.

“I made comments at the time about it. I found it astonishing that in the lead up to Christmas, Novak Djokovic was denied by the then federal government the opportunity to see his Orthodox minister, priest, during that period,” said Albanese, who became prime minister in May 2022.

“I think that was something that I think was hard to justify at that time.”

Djokovic is hoping to win a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title when he competes in the Australian Open at Melbourne Park next week.