Wimbledon champion Venus Williams has decided to withdraw from next month's Toyota Princess Cup, organizers said Monday.
According to organizers of the Sept. 17-23 tournament at Tokyo's Ariake Colosseum, Venus, who clinched her second straight Wimbledon title last month, pulled out to avoid competing for honors with younger sister Serena, the Toyota Princess defending champion.
Serena will play in the WTA Tour event as scheduled while 18-year-old French Open runnerup Kim Clisters of Belgium became the latest addition to the list of participating players.
Australian Open and French Open winner Jennifer Capriati, Jelena Dokic, who won her first tour title at the Italian Open in May, and veteran Arantxa Sanchez Vicario are among the big names appearing in the $565,000 tournament.
Japan's hopes rest with ace Ai Sugiyama, currently No. 1 in the WTA doubles rankings, while former queen Martina Navratilova will also enter the doubles draw.