No rest day for the Wimbledon crowd

Wimbledon managed to make do without play on the middle Sunday for 114 years. It was only in 1991, when Stefan Edberg took 73 hours to win his opening match in straight sets and the Championships were 200 matches behind schedule thanks to rain, that they decided to open the courts on the rest day to 25,000 spectators for a tenner.

It was not a situation the All England Club was in a rush to repeat: “People’s Sunday” was deployed only three more times, in 1997, 2004 and 2016, before they decided to make it permanent in 2022. Instead of having all fourth-round matches on Monday, the draw is split over two days with Carlos Alcaraz, seeking his third title, among those in action today (BBC One & Two from 11am).

When I was a boy, rain delays were welcome as they gave a chance to see repeats of classic matches. Fortunately, the BBC iPlayer has a bumper crop of them, including hours of highlights from the greatest men’s and women’s finals. They include Arthur Ashe’s win 50 years ago, Boris Becker’s first title 40 years ago and, for my money, the finest of them all (sorry Roger and Rafa) between Björn Borg and John McEnroe in 1980.

It is still glorious: fire v ice, perm v mane, and that fourth-set tiebreak that went on for some 20 minutes. “If this were a heavyweight boxing contest, they’d stop the fight,” John Barrett said – and there were 18 more points to come. It was sexy tennis, of a kind we don’t see any more: headbands, wooden racquets, white balls and an enthusiasm to volley. And here is one more difference: 45 years on from Borg’s fifth title, his son is Sweden’s third best male player but not ranked in the world’s top 500, nor are any compatriots in the top 200. Sweden used to produce tennis lions.

Speaking of the mighty falling, at the same time as the Club World Cup semi-finals (Tuesday & Wednesday, Dazn/Ch5, 8pm), 28 clubs begin next season’s Champions League. In the first qualifying round we find Steaua Bucharest, who won the title in 1986, and Malmö, beaten in the 1979 final, mixed with such perplexing names as Iberia 99, who are actually from Georgia, and Lincoln Red Imps, from Gibraltar. Local interest lies with The New Saints, who are Welsh but play in Shropshire. They take on Shkëndija, of North Macedonia, (Tuesday, S4C, 7pm), while there is an all-Ireland clash between Shelbourne and Linfield (Wednesday, Premier Sports 1, 7.45pm).

This year’s Tour de France is a rarity in modern history by not being “France et ailleurs”. Since London hosted the Grand Départ in 2007, there have been only three years when it has not gone to another country but this year’s race, which began yesterday in Lille, is “seulement en France”. The first time-trial is around Caen on Wednesday (ITV4, 2pm). Expect a racket: it is celebrating its 1,000th anniversary and is known, referring to its churches, as “The City of 100 Church Bells”. Or 284 if they include the ones on their handlebars.