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In an interview with Tennis Break News, French veteran Gilles Simon spoke out about the lingering uncertainty surrounding the US Open in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The Frenchman also came out in defence of Novak Djokovic, saying that the criticism directed at the World No. 1 has been excessive.
Simon paid special attention to Noah Rubin's harsh words about Novak Djokovic and his ill-fated Adria Tour, which had to be cancelled after four players - Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric, Viktor Troicki and Djokovic himself - tested positive for COVID-19.
Gilles Simon expressed surprise at the controversy Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour has generated despite the good intentions behind the charity event. Simon said that it is unfair to put the blame entirely on Novak Djokovic for all the positive COVID-19 cases at the Adria Tour, and that the criticism may have been fueled by vested interests.
"There are a bunch of people who are very happy to weaken Djokovic because it takes up space," Simon said. "They will accuse Djokovic by saying that it is entirely his fault and that it will be better organised on their side. Because they don't want this thing to affect their tournament. It is not trivial, it does not happen by chance."
"He's someone very nice to only take it out on himself," Simon added. "It is complicated to decide on the repercussions of all this because it is only politics."
Gilles Simon then spoke about Noah Rubin, casting doubt over the American's objective behind devoting an entire page to criticize Novak Djokovic.
“The first wave of criticism against Djokovic, it is very revealing," Simon said. "Since when Noah Rubin has a whole page to demolish Djokovic? This is not the first guy, you say to yourself: 'We absolutely need the opinion of Noah Rubin [laughs]'. The American influence that we have here in France, the Americans also have at home."
Novak Djokovic tries to do a lot of things, so it annoys a lot of people: Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon also offered his perspective on Novak Djokovic's absence during the ATP's Zoom call with other players, where the roadmap for the rest of the 2020 season was discussed.
In this respect, Simon once again tore into Noah Rubin for launching a tirade against Novak Djokovic without having full knowledge on the topic.
“Noah Rubin criticized him for not being present at this Zoom meeting," Simon said. "But Djokovic spent 1,500 hours on the phone on this case without Rubin knowing it. Rubin accuses him of not being there in the final conference when he had discussed all the subjects with everyone beforehand."
Pointing out that Novak Djokovic has done a lot for lower-ranked players on the tour, Simon said that there would always be some who oppose him because they lack long-term vision.
"Novak did a lot more for Noah Rubin than a lot of other guys, but he decided he didn't like him because he was not at the conference which summed up all the meetings he had," Simon said. "This is the problem we have with some players. When you can give the floor to anyone, you will always find guys who disagree and who do not have an overall vision because they haven't been on the circuit for too long."
Simon further said that Novak Djokovic stands to gain nothing even if the prize money in qualifying for the US Open is doubled, yet he is still blasted for expressing reservations about his participation in the tournament.
"It won't change Novak's life even if we double the prize money in qualifying for the last Grand Slam of the year, but he is still criticized (for saying that he may not play the US Open)."
Gilles Simon explained that since Novak Djokovic tries to do a lot of things, both on and off the court, it annoys a lot of people. According to the Frenchman, the USTA in particular are unhappy about the World No. 1's reluctance to play the tournament because that would go against their personal interests.
"As Novak tries to do a lot of things, it annoys a lot of people .. and right now, it annoys the USTA who want to organize the tournament. They try to reassure everyone but when you have the World No. 1 who says 'No, no we are not playing under these conditions', they are not happy."
The Frenchman also expressed bemusement about how Novak Djokovic's uncertainty over playing the US Open has had American players slamming the Serb.
"It's very amazing to see American players dependent on Novak Djokovic because he said he didn't want to play at their place. We have a whole group that says 'no but we have to play at home absolutely'."
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