As one age-old Wimbledon tradition passes for the final time, an age-defying Roger Federer will do his utmost to ensure another endures when he fills a Centre Court headline act slot on his 18th Manic Monday.

As the only one of the four Grand Slams that still honours a universal day of rest, Middle Sunday was retired at the weekend, but not before it guarantees all 32 names from both sides of the singles draws reconvene on Day 7 one more time.

 

Sixteen acts to determine The Championships’ quarter-finalists for 2021 fill a stacked schedule and it is the eight-time champion, Federer, just a month shy of his 40th birthday, who closes the main stage opposite 26-year-old Lorenzo Sonego, an Italian vocalist who recently cut his debut single.

The No.6 seed, Federer has never fallen in the fourth round on Manic Monday. Following his 1,250th Tour-level match win against one of the season’s most prolific match winners, local act Cameron Norrie, on Saturday, the Swiss declared: “I definitely feel like I’ve got into my rhythm now.”

Pre-performance nerves would be understandable for Sonego, having never stood on Wimbledon’s Centre Court. But the beaten finalist on the grass at Eastbourne has found his range. The Turinese recently recorded a track called Un Solo Secondo (Just One Second) with childhood friend and musician AlterEdo.

There could be room on his set list for “Just Another Second” should he overturn a 0-1 record against the Swiss to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.

That requires a sizeable shake-up of the old guard, a routine that throws off one of the stars of the show, who admits he may just be finding his equilibrium on Centre Court.

“Maybe one of the first times I just felt very much at peace out there, really sort of a tranquility I guess to everything I was doing: where I wanted to serve, how I wanted to win my service games, then how I took misses, how I took wrong choices.

"I just brushed them off. It was like we're moving on, things are going well. I know it's the big picture that matters,” Federer said after denying Norrie. “I was sitting on the change of ends, it was just empty thoughts, no bad, no positive, just sitting there and relaxing. This is how I want it to be. I think that for me is a very positive sign, to be honest.”

Arguably the most hyped teenage name on Tour, Coco Gauff joins the Swiss/Italian act on Day 7’s Centre Court billing when she meets 2018 champion Angelique Kerber in the second slot.

For most 17-year-olds through to the second week in SW19, it would mark their maiden appearance, but this young American is not most teenagers. That came two years ago at 15, when Simona Halep saw her off on this stage in the fourth round, following a breakout run on debut.

The No.20 seed this year, Gauff comes up against the German No.25 seed Kerber, who was on a resurgent run of late, having claimed the title at Bad Homburg, her first since her Wimbledon triumph three years ago.

Gauff admitted there had already been butterflies, having taken her place on Centre Court before Federer this week. “Part of the reason I was so nervous in my second round match on Centre is because I saw he was following me again," the teenager said.

“It's pretty cool. I don't know, I like to think of it as opening up for me. You know how concerts, they have a big artist, then a smaller artist comes before them."

The opening headline act on Centre Court might have a thing or two to say as he continues his bid for a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam trophy.

Much like his great rival Federer, world No.1 Novak Djokovic has featured heavily on Manic Monday’s line-up over the years. This will be the five-time champion’s 12th appearance when he crosses paths with 25-year-old Cristian Garin.

The No.17 seed has reached back-to-back Grand Slam fourth rounds following his run in Paris and stands one win from becoming the first Chilean since Fernando Gonzalez in 2005 to reach the quarter-finals. Until this year, he never passed the opening round in three prior trips and is one of four debutants in the same boat through to the round of 16.

Six additional names have advanced to the fourth round on their Wimbledon debut, including the sole British player to reach the second week, Emma Raducanu.

As the lowest-ranked player in the ladies’ singles draw, the 18-year-old is a complete stranger to the biggest stages, but made the most of her No.1 Court debut when she overcame Sorana Cirstea in the third round.

Raducanu returns to No.1 Court for a meeting with unseeded Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, a gutsy victor from a feisty showdown with 2017 Roland-Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Another of the six into the second week in their Wimbledon debut, Barbora Krejcikova, arrives as a recently crowned Grand Slam champion. Following a whirlwind tour back home to soak in her new-found Czech stardom the No.14 seed runs into Australian world No.1 Ashleigh Barty in a showdown between the 2021 and 2019 Roland-Garros winners.

The 25-year-old is one of three Czech women on the Manic Monday line-up, alongside Karolina Pliskova and Karolina Muchova, while a trio of Russian men – Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov – and Canadian duo Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime all vie for places on the coveted quarter-finals billing.

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