The Williams sisters did not breach a 2001 contract for an unplayed tennis tournament because the promise to play was a letter signed by their father and not the tennis stars, their lawyer said at the close of a trial?in?West Palm Beach, Florida?Wednesday.

"There is no contract which my clients entered into," Malcolm Cunningham told a jury of eight at the close of a nine-million-dollar lawsuit brought by two promoters for breach of contract. The first trial was annulled a year ago.

The jury withdrew and was expected to arrive at a verdict as soon as Thursday.

At the heart of the lawsuit is a written promise their father, Richard Williams, signed for the appearance of his daughters Venus and Serena in a 2001 tournament, billed as the battle of the sexes. The event never took place and the plaintiffs say the Williams sisters reneged on their promise.

Cunningham maintained that what the promoters's lawyers called a "valid and binding contract" was simply a letter of introduction to the private company that handles the sisters' business.

The so-called contract, the lawyer told the jury, "was signed by Richard Williams, not Venus Williams, not Serena Williams ... this letter is not a contract."

He went on to say that the Williams sisters signed their own contracts and that neither was aware of what their father had done.

"There's simply no evidence here that Venus and Serena Williams did something wrong here. They simply did not know," Cunningham said.

A lawyer for the promoters, who claim they lost nine million dollars by cancelling the tournament, maintained the tennis stars' father was involved with all aspects of his daughters' careers.

Richard Williams negotiated their contracts and signed documents in their names, said John Romano who showed the jury a video in which Williams said his daughters were aware of all his business deals.

Romano also showed tax returns filed by Williams showing he was paid two million dollars by his daughters for his training and administrative services.

"An income tax return didn't authorize Richard Williams" to make deals on behalf of his daughters, replied Cunningham.

(China Daily December 22, 2006)