Tennis: Brazil to be returned by Venus

The WTA returns to Brazil for the first time in over a decade next week, with Venus Williams the headline act in Florianopolis.

Tennis will take center stage for one week as one of the world's most recognizable sportswomen heads to Florianopolis for the inaugural staging of the WTA Brazil Tennis Cup. Meanwhile soccer is king in Brazil.

Former World No.1 and seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams has chosen Florianopolis, birthplace of ATP legend Gustavo Kuerten, as the venue for her return from the back injury that has sidelined her since the Australian Open.

The tournament, hosted on the hardcourts of the Federacao Catarinense de Tennis, is the tour's first event in Brazil for more than a decade and brings down the curtain on the WTA's whistle-stop South American swing.

Joining No.1 seed Williams, who faces Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the first round, will be Yaroslava Shvedova, Kirsten Flipkens, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Kristina Mladenovic.

Ten thousand miles away in Kuala Lumpur another former No.1, Caroline Wozniacki, will be topping the bill at the fourth staging of the BMW Malaysian Open.

Next week's other International event, the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL, takes place in the picturesque Mexican resort of Acapulco, where Carla Suárez Navarro, Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta and Alizé Cornet will be among those trying to dethrone reigning champion, Sara Errani.