Wimbledon 2021: Goodbye Manic Monday - For the last time the big show on "crazy Monday"
The last "Manic Monday" will take place in Wimbledon in 2021. This is primarily due to the corona pandemic.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Jul 04, 2021, 03:24 pm
There are names, terms and catchphrases that are inextricably linked with Wimbledon. “The Queue” for example, the queue of tireless fans who queue for entry into the tennis temple in normal times regardless of wind and weather. Or the “Royal Box”, the small, fine, royal center court box, into which one cannot buy one's way with any money in the world, but is invited by the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Or the “sacred lawn”, this manicured green playing field, prepared with unmistakable accuracy by the greenkeepers for the best in tennis.
However, even at Wimbledon, nothing lasts forever. Who would have thought that a movable roof like a rain umbrella would protect Center Court and Court 1 from the rigors of the British summer. Speaking of Court 1, it used to be called “The Hangman's Backyard”, a fascinating venue at the largest of all Grand Slam competitions. Just like Court 2, the so-called "Cemetery of Champions", where the stars and starlets regularly stumbled, where the career of seven-time champion Pete Sampras once came to a bleak end. But Court 1 and Court 2 have long since disappeared and fell victim to the major modernization program of recent years.
Tennis state of emergency
And now this too: 2021 will be the last year in which tennis fans can experience the well-known “Manic Monday”, either on site on Church Road in London SW 19 or on screens worldwide. From a purely technical point of view, all eight round of 16 men and women will take place on this day. But as the term “crazy Monday” already says: It is a state of emergency tennis, a uniquely densely packed spectacle with almost all the big names in the scene. “It's nothing but the best day that tennis has known,” says John McEnroe, the lead actor again and again on this Wimbledon Monday, “you don't even know where to look as a spectator. One highlight chases the next. "
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“Manic Monday” is now also an economic victim of the corona pandemic, the biggest health and financial crisis since the Second World War. In 2020 Wimbledon was completely canceled, in 2021 it will take place with a limited number of spectators. And the reality is: The All England Lawn Tennis Club, this money machine that has always operated so profitably, now has to compensate for its high financial losses from two years - and so there will be a new game record from 2022. The play-free "Middle Sunday", an equally ironclad tradition, disappears. And the round of 16 will be spread over two days, on Sunday and Monday four matches for men and women. As with all other tournaments, there is no longer anything with the madness in Britain. “It was always a wonderful thing to be able to take a deep breath at a Grand Slam - without any tennis,” legend Steffi Graf once said. But that is now a thing of the past.
skywimbledon
Manic Monday was always a day of longing. A stopover where every player at least wanted to arrive - at the start of the second, all-deciding Grand Slam week, in which the action once again unfolds a completely new dynamic. Fourth round of Wimbledon means: appearance on crazy Monday, being in the thick of the hustle and bustle, in the insanely prominent program. And maybe even allow yourself bigger dreams with a win.
"It's damn touching"
But also for the Wimbledon fans from all over the world this Manic Monday was the goal of the greatest wishes and longings, a ticket for the tennis performance on Monday was more coveted than for the finals. In the past, when the fans were still camping on Church Road, you could see the first freaks pitching their tents on Saturday evening in the vague hope of getting a ticket for Monday. “It's crazy, it's insane. And it's damn touching,” says Andy Roddick, the former US star, “when I saw this scene for the first time, I had to swallow hard. That was when it became clear what Wimbledon was. "
Once again the full Wimbledon roar, the spectacular experience. Novak Djokovic will be there this Monday, the man who might win the real Grand Slam by winning on Church Road, all four trophies in one year. Roger Federer, the eight-time king. But also Angelique Kerber, the lawn queen of the year 2018 (against Coco Gauff), and Alexander Zverev (against Felix Auger-Aliassime), the last German soloists. July 5, 2021 - or: Goodbye, Manic Monday.
Here is the men's single tableau
Here the single tableau of women
wimmap