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.
poberjuerge@thenational.ae
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
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