The beaten finalist at Saturday's Auckland women's tennis Classic, Venus Williams has opted to skip this week's Hobart International.
Ahead of next week's start of the Australian Open In Melbourne Williams says after a long week during her first tournament of the year her body needs time to rest and recover.
Meanwhile New Zealand's Marina Erakovic will open her account in Hobart today with a centre court match against Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens, beaten semi finalist last week in Auckland.
