{"id":68439,"date":"2025-06-26T14:23:53","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T13:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=68439"},"modified":"2025-06-26T14:29:32","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T13:29:32","slug":"gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI Am Novak Djokovic\u201d: Gilles Simon on How Authenticity Earned Tennis\u2019s Most Polarizing Star Respect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former world No. 6 Gilles Simon praised Novak Djokovic in a recent interview with RG Media and Clay, saying the 24-time Grand Slam champion earned widespread respect by staying unapologetically true to himself, even when it made him unpopular early in his career.<\/p><p><strong>Read More: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/the-2025-mens-wimbledon-championships-schedule-top-seeds-draw-more\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'><strong>The 2025 Men&rsquo;s Wimbledon Championships: Schedule, Top Seeds, Draw &amp; More<\/strong><\/a><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From Villain to G.O.A.T.: The Evolution of Novak Djokovic<\/h2><p>Simon didn&rsquo;t hold back in his admiration, crediting Djokovic&rsquo;s authenticity as the reason behind his eventual embrace by fans. <em>&ldquo;He was the &lsquo;villain&rsquo; early on, but here&rsquo;s what I admire the most. He&rsquo;s true to himself. For example, refusing the vaccine even if it meant giving up Slam records. He didn&rsquo;t fake it.<\/em> <\/p><p><em>In the beginning, he tried to please everyone, get more attention, and that came off as inauthentic. Eventually, he said, <strong>&lsquo;This is who I am. I&rsquo;m Novak Djokovic. Like me or not, I know who I am.&rsquo; That stance earned him respect.&rdquo;<\/strong><\/em><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&ldquo;Novak&rsquo;s earned the respect, and now he&rsquo;s even getting love from fans and the whole tennis world. That wasn&rsquo;t there in the beginning.&rdquo;<br><br>Rafa vs Roger in terms of talent, coaching, Djokovic&rsquo;s authenticity&hellip;<br><br>I spoke to Gilles Simon &#8294;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/_claymagazine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>@_claymagazine<\/a>&#8297; &#128071; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Rp33dy4HKN\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>https:\/\/t.co\/Rp33dy4HKN<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Sa&scaron;a Ozmo (@ozmo_sasa) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ozmo_sasa\/status\/1937906483347231106?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>June 25, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>Simon further added that Djokovic&rsquo;s ambition to surpass Federer and Nadal initially struck many as arrogance. <em>&ldquo;When he said he wanted to break Roger&rsquo;s and Rafa&rsquo;s records, people thought it was arrogant. But now that he&rsquo;s done it, you have to tip your hat. He&rsquo;s earned the respect, and now he&rsquo;s even getting love from fans and the whole tennis world. That wasn&rsquo;t there in the beginning.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Third Man: Making of the Big Three<\/h2><p>For nearly two decades, the Big Three, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer, dominated men&rsquo;s tennis, collecting a combined 66 Grand Slam titles. Federer led early, following his Wimbledon breakthrough in 2003. But Nadal&rsquo;s arrival in 2005, with his maiden French Open title, quickly reshaped the sport. For a time, they were the Big Two, until Djokovic entered the scene.<\/p><p><em>&ldquo;Remember, Roger was the most loved player, maybe ever. And most fans didn&rsquo;t like Rafa when he showed up,&rdquo; <\/em>Simon recalled. <em>&ldquo;But they started liking him more when Novak came on the scene. I&rsquo;m 100% sure of it. Rafa became more appreciated once fans started comparing him to Novak instead of Roger.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Gilles Simon claims fans truly embraced Rafa Nadal only after Novak Djokovic entered the rivalry. See what else Simon reveals here &#128073;  <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aZkwjSbJPx\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>https:\/\/t.co\/aZkwjSbJPx<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/N1ZcCs7nvr\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/N1ZcCs7nvr<\/a><\/p>&mdash; RG (@TheRGMedia) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheRGMedia\/status\/1937906815359946932?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>June 25, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>Djokovic claimed his first major at the 2008 Australian Open and gradually began rewriting the record books. He eventually surpassed both rivals in titles and longevity.<\/p><p><em>&ldquo;Novak was already better than most when he arrived, but he was still behind Roger and Rafa. I don&rsquo;t think many people believed he&rsquo;d surpass them, not even Roger and Rafa themselves. So when he started doing it, people didn&rsquo;t like it. Everyone loved the Roger&ndash;Rafa rivalry. They didn&rsquo;t want a third guy.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p><p>Throughout the resistance, Djokovic&rsquo;s steady rise and his refusal to compromise his identity helped shift the narrative. Today, he stands at the top with 24 Grand Slam titles, ahead of Nadal&rsquo;s 22 and Federer&rsquo;s 20.<\/p><p><strong>Also Read: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/the-2025-womens-wimbledon-championships-schedule-top-seeds-draw-more\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'><strong>The 2025 Women&rsquo;s Wimbledon Championships: Schedule, Top Seeds, Draw &amp; More<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"mm-layout mm-layout-type-post mm-layout-slot4\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Simon shares how Djokovic, once criticized, ultimately earned respect across the tennis world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":68440,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mux_skip_reasons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[4770],"tags":[8126,4949,952,4918],"class_list":["post-68439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis","tag-gilles-simon","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-rafael-nadal","tag-roger-federer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&ldquo;I Am Novak Djokovic&rdquo;: Gilles Simon on How Authenticity Earned Tennis&rsquo;s Most Polarizing Star Respect - The Playoffs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gilles Simon opens up about Novak Djokovic&rsquo;s journey from tennis&rsquo;s villain to its most respected figure. Learn how staying true flipped the script.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&ldquo;I Am Novak Djokovic&rdquo;: Gilles Simon on How Authenticity Earned Tennis&rsquo;s Most Polarizing Star Respect - The Playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gilles Simon opens up about Novak Djokovic&rsquo;s journey from tennis&rsquo;s villain to its most respected figure. Learn how staying true flipped the script.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-26T14:29:32+01:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/I-Am-Novak-Djokovic-Gilles-Simon-on-How-Authenticity-Earned-Tenniss-Most-Polarizing-Star-Respect-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rudra Dubey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Rudradubey1997\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ThePlayoffsEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rudra Dubey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rudra Dubey\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/15c91db82a62cd89d8f4f7e5c13e123b\"},\"headline\":\"\u201cI Am Novak Djokovic\u201d: Gilles Simon on How Authenticity Earned Tennis\u2019s Most Polarizing Star Respect\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-26T13:23:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-26T13:29:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/\"},\"wordCount\":521,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/I-Am-Novak-Djokovic-Gilles-Simon-on-How-Authenticity-Earned-Tenniss-Most-Polarizing-Star-Respect-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gilles Simon\",\"Novak Djokovic\",\"Rafael Nadal\",\"Roger Federer\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Tennis\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cI Am Novak Djokovic\u201d: Gilles Simon on How Authenticity Earned Tennis\u2019s Most Polarizing Star Respect - The Playoffs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/I-Am-Novak-Djokovic-Gilles-Simon-on-How-Authenticity-Earned-Tenniss-Most-Polarizing-Star-Respect-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-26T13:23:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-26T13:29:32+00:00\",\"description\":\"Gilles Simon opens up about Novak Djokovic\u2019s journey from tennis\u2019s villain to its most respected figure. Learn how staying true flipped the script.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/I-Am-Novak-Djokovic-Gilles-Simon-on-How-Authenticity-Earned-Tenniss-Most-Polarizing-Star-Respect-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/I-Am-Novak-Djokovic-Gilles-Simon-on-How-Authenticity-Earned-Tenniss-Most-Polarizing-Star-Respect-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u201cI Am Novak Djokovic\u201d: Gilles Simon on How Authenticity Earned Tennis\u2019s Most Polarizing Star Respect\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/\",\"name\":\"The Playoffs\",\"description\":\"Share passion for sports &amp; betting\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Playoffs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp\",\"width\":415,\"height\":280,\"caption\":\"The Playoffs\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/ThePlayoffsEN\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theplayoffs_en\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/15c91db82a62cd89d8f4f7e5c13e123b\",\"name\":\"Rudra Dubey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff88455daa0c3e99f0890c12594ed2da?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff88455daa0c3e99f0890c12594ed2da?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rudra Dubey\"},\"description\":\"I\u2019m an academic turned sports writer from Raipur, India, specializing in the NFL, MMA, and tennis at The Playoffs. I previously wrote for Sportskeeda and hold a B.A. and M.A. in History. My journey into sports media began far from the field, rooted in the arts and sciences. Funny enough, I didn\u2019t grow up a sports fan; I used to see it all as just noise. But a fateful writing job introduced me to the world of sports, and what began as a gig quickly became a passion. I understood those voices aren\\\\'t noise; they\\\\'re emotions of true sports fans, and now I am one of them, writing with the same energy I once questioned.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/_rudradubey__\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Rudradubey1997\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/author\/rudra\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"&ldquo;I Am Novak Djokovic&rdquo;: Gilles Simon on How Authenticity Earned Tennis&rsquo;s Most Polarizing Star Respect - The Playoffs","description":"Gilles Simon opens up about Novak Djokovic&rsquo;s journey from tennis&rsquo;s villain to its most respected figure. Learn how staying true flipped the script.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"&ldquo;I Am Novak Djokovic&rdquo;: Gilles Simon on How Authenticity Earned Tennis&rsquo;s Most Polarizing Star Respect - The Playoffs","og_description":"Gilles Simon opens up about Novak Djokovic&rsquo;s journey from tennis&rsquo;s villain to its most respected figure. Learn how staying true flipped the script.","og_url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/","og_site_name":"The Playoffs","article_modified_time":"2025-06-26T13:29:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1706,"url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/I-Am-Novak-Djokovic-Gilles-Simon-on-How-Authenticity-Earned-Tenniss-Most-Polarizing-Star-Respect-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rudra Dubey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Rudradubey1997","twitter_site":"@ThePlayoffsEN","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rudra Dubey","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/"},"author":{"name":"Rudra Dubey","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/15c91db82a62cd89d8f4f7e5c13e123b"},"headline":"\u201cI Am Novak Djokovic\u201d: Gilles Simon on How Authenticity Earned Tennis\u2019s Most Polarizing Star Respect","datePublished":"2025-06-26T13:23:53+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-26T13:29:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/"},"wordCount":521,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/I-Am-Novak-Djokovic-Gilles-Simon-on-How-Authenticity-Earned-Tenniss-Most-Polarizing-Star-Respect-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Gilles Simon","Novak Djokovic","Rafael Nadal","Roger Federer"],"articleSection":["Tennis"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2025","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/","name":"\u201cI Am Novak Djokovic\u201d: Gilles Simon on How Authenticity Earned Tennis\u2019s Most Polarizing Star Respect - The Playoffs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/I-Am-Novak-Djokovic-Gilles-Simon-on-How-Authenticity-Earned-Tenniss-Most-Polarizing-Star-Respect-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-26T13:23:53+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-26T13:29:32+00:00","description":"Gilles Simon opens up about Novak Djokovic\u2019s journey from tennis\u2019s villain to its most respected figure. Learn how staying true flipped the script.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/I-Am-Novak-Djokovic-Gilles-Simon-on-How-Authenticity-Earned-Tenniss-Most-Polarizing-Star-Respect-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/I-Am-Novak-Djokovic-Gilles-Simon-on-How-Authenticity-Earned-Tenniss-Most-Polarizing-Star-Respect-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1706,"caption":"Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/gilles-simon-on-novak-djokovic-how-authenticity-earned-tennis-most-polarizing-star-respect\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u201cI Am Novak Djokovic\u201d: Gilles Simon on How Authenticity Earned Tennis\u2019s Most Polarizing Star Respect"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/","name":"The Playoffs","description":"Share passion for sports &amp; betting","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization","name":"The Playoffs","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/selo-tp-2020-415x280-1.webp","width":415,"height":280,"caption":"The Playoffs"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/ThePlayoffsEN","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theplayoffs_en\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/15c91db82a62cd89d8f4f7e5c13e123b","name":"Rudra Dubey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff88455daa0c3e99f0890c12594ed2da?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff88455daa0c3e99f0890c12594ed2da?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rudra Dubey"},"description":"I\u2019m an academic turned sports writer from Raipur, India, specializing in the NFL, MMA, and tennis at The Playoffs. I previously wrote for Sportskeeda and hold a B.A. and M.A. in History. My journey into sports media began far from the field, rooted in the arts and sciences. Funny enough, I didn\u2019t grow up a sports fan; I used to see it all as just noise. But a fateful writing job introduced me to the world of sports, and what began as a gig quickly became a passion. I understood those voices aren\\'t noise; they\\'re emotions of true sports fans, and now I am one of them, writing with the same energy I once questioned.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/_rudradubey__\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Rudradubey1997"],"url":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/author\/rudra\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68439"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68439"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68445,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68439\/revisions\/68445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}