Novak Djokovic leaves Jim Courier stunned, Tennis legend opens up on controversial Australian Open interview snub | Tennis News

Sunday 19th January 2025 08:09 PM

Sunday, January 19, turned out to be the day when Novak Djokovic made his wrath known to the Australian Open crowd at Rod Laver Arena, in Melbourne. After defeating Czech ace Jiri Lehecka, the World No. 7 controversially refused a courtside interview with Tennis legend Jim Courier, which left everyone confused.

Novak Djokovic leaves after a press conference at the Australian Open.(AFP)

The Serbian star downed Lehecka 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in a match, where the crowd was against him. After his win, he walked towards two-time Australian Open winner Courier for the courtside interview, but then took the mic from him to just thank the crowd, and then he walked. Although, he did stay back for a couple of minutes to sign autographs.

Then he explained his actions in the post-match press conference, which he started off by blaming Nine Network reporter Tony Jones and demanded an apology for offensive and racist insults. The reason, he denied the interview, was due to Nine Network being the official broadcasters of the Grand Slam event in Melbourne.

Jim Courier opens up on Novak Djokovic snub

Speaking to Eurosport, Courier revealed that he was equally confused by Djokovic’s refusal, and he wasn’t informed that it would happen. “No, I had no idea. I had no idea that was going to happen,” he said.

“But there is no obligation for these players to that. It is an opportunity for them to talk to the people in the stadium and the fans around the world who might be watching on various channels.

“But a player can opt out. Initially I thought there might… sometimes if a player is injured or cramping they might opt out of it but I don’t think it was that. I hope we will get a little more colour on it at some point,” he added.

During the match, Djokovic was also visibly annoyed by the Rod Laver crowd. In the third set specially, the spectators tried to distract the Serbian and put him off guard, when he was trying to serve, and even the chair umpire had to intervene.

Although Djokovic snubbed Courier, he did speak to a presenter from Eurosport on court, where he opened up on his struggles with different types of crowds.