Venus Williams insists she never committed to play against men in a 2001 ``Battle of the Sexes'' event, and such a splashy exhibition did not interest her.

``That wasn't my thing,'' she testified Tuesday in a breach-of-contract lawsuit. ``I'm a professional women's tennis player. I want to play serious tennis.''

Williams spent a second day on the witness stand in a lawsuit brought by promoters Carol Clarke and Keith Rhodes. Also testifying Tuesday was her sister, Serena.

The two owners of a company called CCKR that intended to stage the tournament between men's and women's tennis stars contend the Williams sisters reneged on a playing agreement arranged by their father, Richard Williams.

Venus Williams said her father had no authority to commit her to any business venture and that her interests are handled solely by the IMG sports management agency. IMG, she said, never brought the ``Battle'' proposal to her and she never talked about it with her father or anyone else.

``I didn't agree to any contract with the `Battle of the Sexes' at all, with any person, at any time,'' Venus Williams said.

Richard Williams acknowledged that he put together a potential contract for the tournament but insisted he told Clarke and Rhodes they would have to go through IMG to get his daughters to play.

Venus Williams laughingly recalled how her father pushed his daughters to play tennis as children and has always acted as their coach and mentor. But, she said, since becoming an adult he has not had the power to make business deals for her.

Clarke and Rhodes contend the event could have made US$45 million. They are suing the sisters, their father and his company, Richard Williams Tennis & Associates, for unspecified damages. An initial trial last year ended in a mistrial.

Serena Williams testified that she remembered having fleeting conversations with Clarke about a women's sports Internet site but never agreed to lend her name or prestige to the venture. Serena Williams said a signature bearing her name on an agreement for Clarke's Internet site was not in her handwriting, but she would not say whether it was similar to her father's handwriting.

``All I know is, that's not my signature,'' Serena Williams said. ``I never saw this document.''

Serena Williams was expected to continue her testimony Wednesday.

© The Canadian Press, 2007