premise: 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 here 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.
   Why did the Williams sisters need a lawyer to tell the jury their side of the story?
hypothesis: a nine-million-dollar lawsuit brought by two promoters