Venus Williams, Taylor Dent to play for U.S. at Hopman Cup

PERTH, Australia (AP) -- Venus Williams and Taylor Dent will represent the United States at this year's Hopman Cup team tennis tournament.

The Americans will play Germany's Nicolas Kiefer and Martina Muller on Dec. 30.

Organizers said Thursday that South Korea was forced out of the tournament after Cho Yoon-jeong was injured in a women's practice match.

Australia and Russia will join Germany and the United States in Group A. Croatia, Czech Republic, Spain and the winner of the Asian Hopman Cup, being decided this week in Hyderabad, India, will play in Group B.

The tournament ends Jan. 5 and is one of a series of warmup tournaments ahead of the Australian Open, which begins Jan. 15 in Melbourne.