Monday, July 5th 2021, will be final ‘Manic Monday’ at Wimbledon, with the tournament announcing in April the intention to switch to a 14-day schedule starting in 2022, abolishing the Middle Sunday break and thus getting rid of Manic Monday. As a result, this Monday is will be the last time tennis fans have the chance to sit down in front of a screen (or on one of the famed courts at the All England Club) and frantically try to capture all the exciting fourth-round action.
What are Middle Sunday and Manic Monday?
Not playing on the Middle Sunday has been a tradition at Wimbledon since its inception, intended as a rest day for both the players and the grass. Resulting from the Sunday break was Manic Monday, a day during which all 16 fourth-round matches in the men’s and women’s draws are supposed to be completed. At the other three Grand Slams, those 16 matches are spread out across two days.
Though the Middle Sunday is on the way out, Wimbledon still retains some customs and rules that could be considered antiquated (or traditional based on your point of view), such as the all-white dress code for players and the defending champions opening on Centre Court on the first two days. Getting rid of the Middle Sunday is perhaps the most logical choice if one must be discarded.
Financially, the tournament has been shooting itself in the foot by giving up a full day slot on the weekend. Getting play on Sunday will not only mean more gate and broadcasting revenue, it will also enable more fans to experience Wimbledon.
The tournament has been forced into playing on Middle Sunday four times in its history, for the first time in 1991. On these special days, Middle Sunday was renamed ‘People’s Sunday’, with unreserved seating and cheaper tickets creating a special atmosphere. It will be interesting to see whether Wimbledon tries to create a ‘People’s Sunday’ yearly now or if it will be treated as any other day.
What to watch?
So heading into this final Manic Monday, who should you be watching, where, and when? Honestly, it is hard to say. Manic Monday is so-named for a reason. But there are some standout matches. The contests to watch in the morning are surely Iga Swiatek vs Ons Jabeur, which is set to begin at 11am local time on No. 2 Court, and Elena Rybakina’s clash with the second seed Aryna Sabalenka.
It is unfortunate that both matches start at 11am, but there is some mercy that action doesn’t begin on the show-courts until 1pm. That’s when the opening match on No.1 Court starts and it could be a classic with the top seed Ashleigh Barty taking on the French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova. If you are thinking at this point that you are yet to watch any men’s matches, don’t worry there are plenty still to enjoy.
You will still have the chance to pop over to No.2 Court to watch world #2 Daniil Medvedev take on Miami Open champion Hubert Hurkacz, who has found some form of late. You may then wish to finish your day off by attempting to watch Roger Federer against Lorenzo Sonego on Centre Court as well as Emma Raducanu and Ajla Tomljanovic on No. 1 Court. Unfortunately, even then you are likely to have missed some very good tennis. When Wimbledon says manic, they mean it.
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