What is Wimbledon Middle Sunday and since when has it been in practice? All you need to know

Middle Sunday was a tradition unique to Wimbledon which saw the play being stopped on the first Sunday of the tournament's fortnight. The rest day allowed the grass to recover for the next seven days of grueling tennis.

As of 2022, the tradition of allowing a rest day has been scrapped due to advancements in technology relating to court management. All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (AELTC) chairman, Ian Hewitt, talked to Guardian in 2022 about major reforms in Middle Sunday and said that it was in the best interests of the fans to allow play every day of the Wimbledon fortnight.

“It’s important at this stage of the development of the sport that Wimbledon should be even more accessible to the people who want to access it and at the times at which they are best able to. We consider that it’s in the best interests of the tennis fans that Wimbledon should be available to be watched and attended throughout that middle weekend,” Hewitt said.

The Middle Sunday tradition had been in practice since 1877, till 2022 as technological improvements allowed for the practice to be done away with. Between 1877 and 2022, there have been four occasions when this tradition was broken due to extreme weather conditions. 1991 was the first year that the rule was broken, and then again in 1997, 2004, and 2016.

Scrapping Middle Sunday also helped avoid Manic Monday, which means having all 16 men's and women's fourth-round matches on the Monday after Middle Sunday.

On July 7, the 'Middle Sunday', four matches each of men's and women's fourth round have been scheduled, with home favorite Emma Raducanu, second seed Coco Gauff, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz scheduled to play.

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World No. 1 Iga Swiatek out of Wimbledon

Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon 2024 (Source: GETTY)

World No. 1 and top seed Iga Swiatek was toppled by Yulia Putintseva in the third round. The Pole won the first set 6-3 but Putintseva clinched the next two sets 6-1, 6-2 to reach the second week.

Talking about the loss, Swiatek said at the post-match press conference that she did not rest properly and took up off-court work soon after the French Open. She said that she would avoid this mistake and take a vacation next year to recover properly.

"I know what I did wrong after Roland Garros. I didn't really rest properly. I'm not going to make this mistake again and after such a tough claycourt season, I really messed up my recovery. I literally came back to work, not tennis-wise, but like off court stuff and I shouldn't have done that so maybe next year I'm going to take a vacation and literally just do nothing," Iga Swiatek said.

Wimbledon 2024 final matches will be played on July 13 and 14.