"I’m surprised he’s still allowed to be in the grounds": Marcos Baghdatis lambasts Tony Jones for 'disrespectful' comments towards Novak Djokovic

Former professional tennis player and coach Marcos Baghdatis has lambasted Tony Jones for remarks against former world number one Novak Djokovic. The 37-year-old, who is regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles, has been recently involved in a controversy where he snubbed an on-court interview after winning his fourth-round encounter at the Australian Open against Jiri Lehecka in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-4, 7-6.

The reason was the comment from Jones, who, before the match while standing in front of the Serbian fans, stated on air that Novak is overrated and he is a ‘has been’. While talking to the media after the match, Djokovic admitted that he did that after feeling disrespected following comments from Jones, who was working for Channel 9.

“I would like to just clarify the reason why the interview was not conducted on the court, the post-match interview, like it’s a common, usual practice,” Djokovic said. “Couple days ago the famous sports journalist (Tony Jones) 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.

Jones later accepted his mistake and publicly announced an apology. "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,” he said. "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.

Now, the 2006 Australian Open runner-up Baghdatis has recently been quoted in a report where he criticised Jones for making disgraceful and ‘disrespectful’ comments regarding one of the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis.

“What Jones said was really disrespectful to Novak and to tennis,” he said. “I’m surprised he’s still allowed to be in the grounds. It’s up to Tennis Australia and Channel Nine… but I think it’s a disgrace. Actions should be taken. We can’t let it go so easily because we’re talking about racism, in my opinion.”