Happy Mondays for the Wimbledon tennis enthusiast

The second Monday of Wimbledon compares favourably with any day on the sports calendar as all the top players — men and women — play on the same day.

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The second Monday of Wimbledon compares favourably with any day on the sports calendar.

English football fans might prefer the final day of the Premier League season, when places in Europe and the relegation line-up seem to change each time a ball crosses the goal-line.

Global football enthusiasts might nominate any of the four days when two World Cup quarter-finals are contested. Aficionados of Olympic sport might prefer the final Saturday of the Summer Games, the event's busiest day. North Americans might suggest either of the first two days of the college basketball championship tournament, when 16 games are played in as many hours.

But all those spectacles face stiff competition from Wimbledon's second Monday, when the surviving 16 players in the men's and women's draw are all in action.

By this point, the chaff has been blown away and the elite are almost certain to face a worthy foe, some for the first time.

This is the day when dark horses come into focus, when the star carrying an injury is caught out, when the top men and women play on the same day for the last time and when fans can still see elite players without a ticket to Centre Court.

The notion of being able to shuttle from Court 14 to Court 18 to see players only four victories from championship glory is heady stuff. The rich and famous may prefer a final; the serious fan targets the second Monday.