"Probably someone did wrong translation": Boris Becker explains comment about Novak Djokovic's injury at Australian Open

Former world number one Boris Becker has explained his comments about Novak Djokovic’s recent injury during the Australian Open. The 37-year-old 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.

Djokovic recently participated in the Australian Open, where his journey ended after he was forced to retire during the semifinal against world number two Alexander Zverev after the first set. The legendary tennis star suffered that injury during the quarterfinal win against world number three Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.

Ever since it was announced that Djokovic would not be able to continue playing in the semifinal, the local crowd sitting in the arena booed the legendary tennis star, and few on social media also questioned whether the injury was that serious. The Belgrade-born star shared a picture of scans on social media platform X — previously known as Twitter — of his injury with a caption: “Thought I’d leave this here for all the sports injury “experts” out there.”

Becker was one of the most high-profile names in the circuit to repost that with a caption: “Word”. In response to that, one user reminded the legendary German tennis player that he questioned Djokovic’s injury as and when it happened. In response to that, the former world number one clarified that he never questioned the severity of Djokovic’s injury and that someone must have been mistaken while translating his comments from German to English.

“I have never questioned the severity of @DjokerNole injury!” Becker responded. “Probably someone did wrong translation from German into English… Schatzi is family for me since 2013 ! It’s all about the click-bait these days and not about facts!”

It was the second time in two years that Djokovic was forced to retire or withdraw from the later stages of a Grand Slam. During the French Open in 2024, the former world number one withdrew before the start of the quarterfinal against Norway’s Casper Ruud because of a knee injury.