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By: Justin Cohen

• Polo Ralph Lauren has signed a deal to continue its partnership with the All England Club as the official apparel company of the Wimbledon Championships through 2015. “Wimbledon is the world’s premier sporting event and we are honored to continue our relationship and support the greatest tennis legends of our time,” said David Lauren, the Senior Vice President of Advertising, Marketing and Corporate Communications. Under the new contract, Polo Ralph Lauren will continue to serve as the official apparel company of all on-court officials including chair umpires, lines judges and ball persons. “We are delighted to have entered into this partnership with Polo Ralph Lauren,” said Ian Ritchie, the Chief Executive of the All England Club at Wimbledon. “Wimbledon and Ralph Lauren share the same non-compromising standards and determination to maintain and enhance the values for which our two brands are famous throughout the world. The Ralph Lauren brand brings to Wimbledon the look of timeless elegance, drawing on our rich history and traditions.”
• World Team Tennis officials announced that the WTT Finals presented by GEICO will be held in Kansas City, Mo. The finals will be held on Sunday, July 25, at 6:35 p.m., at Explorers Stadium at Barney Allis Plaza, home of the WTT Pro League’s Kansas City Explorers. The WTT Finals will be televised on Tennis Channel on July 28 at 8 p.m ET. “We’re thrilled a tennis event of this caliber is coming to Kansas City,” said Jeff Launius, the Kansas City Explorers General Manager.  “It’s a great opportunity to show off our city and venue to fans throughout the region as well as a national TV audience.  This wouldn’t have been possible without the terrific support of our fans and the City of Kansas City.  The Explorers’ commitment is to put together a team that is talented enough to make it to the Finals and I think we have done that.”
• Tennis Channel has signed tennis Hall of Famer Jimmy Connors to a contract that will see him act as a nightly analyst during Wimbledon from June 21-30. The two-time former Wimbledon champion will team with Martina Navratilova and Bill Macatee on the four-hour nightly tournament show, Wimbledon Primetime, which beings Monday, June 21, at 7 p.m. ET. Connors also renewed his contract to be a broadcaster for the second straight year at the US Open in August. “Martina, Bill and I had a great time on Tennis Channel during the US Open last summer,” said Connors. “It’s nice to have the opportunity to work with this team again at Wimbledon, and I look forward to reuniting with them in London in a few weeks.”
• USTA Serves, the National Charitable Foundation of the United States Tennis Association, announced that they will grant 70 high school students college scholarships totaling $380,000. “USTA Serves is proud to be able to contribute almost $400,000 to help these deserving students across the country to begin their college careers,” said Deborah Slaner Larkin, the Executive Director of USTA Serves. “It is our hope and firm belief that these young men and women will continue to positively impact the sport of tennis and the world at large throughout their lives.”
• American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who has been ranked as high as No. 37 in the world, donated $2,000 from her Roland Garros prize money to the Nashville flood relief efforts through the organization Hands on Nashville. Mattek-Sands has pledged to donate 5% of her prize money from Roland Garros through the US Open. Mattek-Sands is currently participating in the Wimbledon singles qualifying tournament.
• French player Virginie Razzano wants compensation from the WTA Tour for a foot injury she said was caused by a tour masseuse. “She did it so hard, an odema formed,” said Razzano. “I couldn’t put my foot on the floor.” In an interview with Women365.com, Razzano said she was worked on for roughly 10 minutes and it was too violent. Razzano attempted to compete at the tournament in Strasbourg and then at Roland Garros, but suffered a hip tear that she attributes to having a bad foot. She has yet to decide if she will compete at Wimbledon next week.
• American Alison Riske, Chanelle Scheepers and last year’s Wimbledon girls’ junior champion Noppawan Lertcheewakarn have been awarded the final Wimbledon main draw wild cards for the ladies main draw. The final three gentlemen’s main draw wild cards will not be awarded and will be filled by direct entries.
• Chinese sportswear maker Peak has signed a five-year contract to become the official shoe and apparel partner of the Asia-Pacific region for the WTA Tour. Peak will be granted licensing and merchandising rights to develop a co-branded WTA-Peak line of apparel, become partner of the WTA Tour’s China tennis festivals and develop a player apparel program.  “The growth of women’s tennis in China and Asia-Pacific is of the highest priority for the Tour, and we are thrilled that a great brand like PEAK will be our partner in growing the WTA brand,” said David Shoemaker, the WTA Tour President. “The Tour has had a strong belief that the full potential of women’s tennis in China can only be reached by working together with committed and visionary partners.” The Chinese sporting goods market is currently worth $6 billion and is expected to grow to roughly 14 percent a year, according to the China Sporting Goods Federation.
• Former World No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo will coach Frenchman Michael Llodra at Wimbledon next week.
• Fifth-ranked Elena Dementieva has pulled out of Wimbledon with a calf injury that caused her to retire from her semifinal match at Roland Garros. Dementieva reached the Wimbledon semifinals last year before falling to eventual champion Serena Williams.
• In a conference call from England where she will be playing legends doubles with Anna Kournikova at Wimbledon, Martina Hingis said she is still unsure if she will return to the WTA Tour and play doubles. However, she did mention that she is considering playing doubles with Lindsay Davenport in the future.
• Zelkjo Krajan, who recently coached Dinara Safina, has signed on to coach Dominika Cibulkova according to tennisreporters.net.
• Andy Murray has announced that he will skip Great Britain’s Davis Cup tie against Turkey the week after Wimbledon. “I spoke to Leon Smith (the new Great Britain captain) on Monday,” said Murray.  “I’m not going to play. I’m definitely not retiring from Davis Cup. I will play in the future, that’s for sure, but not right now.” Murray insists the Brits can win 5-0 over Turkey without him in the lineup.
• Chilean Fernando Gonzalez will be sidelined from the ATP World Tour for 10 weeks due to bilateral patellar tendinitis. Writing on his official website, Gonzalez said: “Unfortunately I have bad news. The bilateral patellar tendinitis that I have will force me to be away from competition for 10 weeks. Because of that, I will have to skip Gstaad, Bastad, Hamburg and, most sadly, the Davis Cup quarter-final tie against Czech Republic at Coquimbo.” Gonzalez is hoping to return to competition at the Masters 1000 event in Toronto.
• Lauren Fishbein of Livingston, N.J., recently traveled to Paris to participate in the Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament at Roland Garros. Longines, which is committed to developing and finding the future of professional tennis, invited 16 12-and-under players from 15 different countries to participate in the tournament. Fishbein qualified for the tournament by winning the U.S. edition of the Longines Junior Tennis Challenge that was put on in April by the USTA Eastern Section. Fishbein, who traveled to Paris with her parents and coach, lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Aleksandra Pospelova of Russia. Despite not returning to the United States with the champion’s trophy, Fishbein was fortunate enough to meet her idol Serena Williams and pose for a picture with the 12-time Grand Slam singles champion. She also got to pose for pictures with former French Open champions Gustavo Kuerten and Mary Pierce, as well as Longines President Walter von Känel.