Garbine Muguruza to Play This Year’s Hopman Cup

Garbine Muguruza is ready to take on the world…

The 24-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player and compatriot David Ferrer will represent Spain in the Hopman Cup mixed teams event in late December.

Garbine Muguruza

The eight-country tournament is scheduled from December 29 to January 5 on indoor hard courts at Perth Arena. It’s used by the players as a tuneup event for the Australian Open, which begins on January 14 in Melbourne.

Serena Williams and Roger Federer have also committed to play, while former Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev will represent Germany.

Frances Tiafoe will be Williams’ partner for the United States, while Belinda Bencic will again represent Switzerland with Federer to defend the title they won in January over Kerber and Zverev in the final.

Williams and Federer are scheduled to play mixed doubles against each other when the U.S. meets Switzerland on January 1.

Hopman Cup Teams:
Australia: Matthew Ebden and Ashleigh Barty
France: Lucas Pouille and Alize Cornet
Germany: Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber
Britain: Cameron Norrie and Katie Boulter
Greece: Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari
Spain: David Ferrer and Garbine Muguruza
Switzerland: Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic
United States: Frances Tiafoe and Serena Williams

Dorough & The Backstreet Boys to Perform in Four Australian Cities

Howie Dorough is headed Down Under…

The 41-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer and his fellow Backstreet Boys band mates are heading back to Australia.

Backstreet Boys

The boy band’s In A World Like This Tour will play arenas in four Australian cities, beginning May 8 at Melbourne’s 15,000 capacity Rod Laver Arena and wrapping at May 15 at Perth Arena (also 15,000 capacity). It’ll be their first trek of the country for almost a decade.

Live Nation Australia announced the tour on Thursday and confirmed original member Kevin Richardson would join his bandmates — Dorough, Brian Littrell, A. J. McLean and Nick Carter — for the dates. Richardson, who returned to BSB in 2012 after a six-year break, performed on the 2013 album release, In A World Like This.

The band’s eight studio set opened at No. 5 in the U.S., and was released to coincide with the Backstreet Boys’ 20th anniversary. Richardson and co. have since played shows across Europe, Asia and North America.

“This last year and a half of touring with my bandmates again couldn’t have been any better, but I’m so excited to finally get back to Australia and play for our Aussie fans,” Richardson says in a statement. “It wouldn’t feel complete without spending time in one of our favorite places.”

Tickets go on sale at midday Feb. 23. The band’s fan club (Feb. 13-15), Telstra customers (Feb. 18-Feb. 20) and members of My Live Nation (Feb. 20) have an early window for pre-sale tickets.

The Boys’ documentary Show ‘Em What You’re Made Of debuted in the U.S. last month and is due for an Australian release from March 28.

The Backstreet Boys’ “In A World Like This Tour” of Australia:
May 8 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
May 9 — Allphones Arena, Sydney
May 10 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre
May 15 — Perth Arena