Washington, Oct 01: Venus Williams, out of action since losing the Wimbledon final to sister Serena when she played with an abdominal injury, has pulled out of next week's tournament in Fielderstadt.
Sports cable TV ESPN said the same injury was the reason for her missing a second tournament after this week's Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
Venus, whose half sister Yetunde Price was murdered in Los Angeles a fortnight ago, has now dropped to sixth in the WTA rankings.
Serena, who has also not played since Wimbledon, had a knee operation last month. She has dropped to no 3 behind the Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne.
The Williams sisters are scheduled to return in the Philadelphia tournament which starts October 27.


Bureau Report