On three continents - and with the help of the 700-kilogram, salt-water star of Crocodile Dundee, as well as the unwitting assistance of some numbered chickens - the longest, unbroken grass-court season in years keeps on rolling.
This is the sixth consecutive week that some or all of the world's leading tennis players have been running about the sport's original surface. This summer, there was an extra week between Roland Garros and Wimbledon, up from two to three, to allow the tennis elite more time to prepare for the fortnight at the All England Club. Now, just because Wimbledon is over, it doesn't mean that grass courts are suddenly disappearing from your television screens; concrete and clay haven't taken possession of summer just yet.
Lawn tennis is being played this week at the ATP tournament in Newport in the United States; there are also a couple of Davis Cup quarter-final ties being played on grass from Friday until Sunday. Great Britain and France meet on the grass of Queen's Club in west London, with the winners to go through to meet Australia or Kazakhstan, who are playing in Darwin, where the draw ceremony was conducted at the Crocosaurus Cove aquarium by Burt, best known for his appearances in Crocodile Dundee, and who made his selections based on which numbered bait he fancied tearing into.
From Newport to Queen's Club to Darwin, some of the players who took centre stage at the All England Club - if not necessarily on Centre Court - have been, or will be, on show this week. The field in Newport has included Dustin Brown, who qualified for this summer's Wimbledon where he defeated a former champion, Rafa Nadal, in the second round of the main draw. And Brown's not the only significant character from this summer's Wimbledon narrative who made the trip to Newport - Andy Murray's fourth-round opponent, Ivo Karlovic, also crossed the Atlantic.
Australia's Davis Cup team includes a number of players who made an impact at the All England Club this summer - Lleyton Hewitt, who has just played his last Wimbledon, is in Darwin, as is Sam Groth, who took a set off Roger Federer during their third-round encounter on Centre Court. Playing singles for Australia are Nick Kyrgios, who attracted much attention as he reached the fourth round of this year's singles tournament in south-west London, and Thanasi Kokkinakis, who made his main-draw debut at Wimbledon just over a fortnight ago.
Both of the Murray brothers arrived in Kensington still dealing with the disappointments they experienced at Wimbledon. The older of the two, Jamie, made the doubles final in partnership with Australia's John Peers, while Andy's path was blocked in the semi-final of the singles tournament by the brilliance of Federer. There is some precedent here for Andy using a grass-court event in London to help him overcome defeat to Federer at Wimbledon - recall the summer of 2012, when Murray lost to Federer in the Wimbledon final and then beat the same opponent on Centre Court to score the Olympic title. On that occasion, there was a decent break between the defeat and his next appearance; this time, there is only a week between Murray's defeat at Wimbledon and his his next competitive tennis on the lawns.
The French team includes a couple of players who ran deep into the Wimbledon draw this summer. Gilles Simon was a quarter-finalist, and Richard Gasquet went even further, making the last four for the first time since 2007. Call them the grass-court musketeers.
