KEY BISCAYNE -- Under pressure from the WTA, media and tennis fans to play more events, Venus Williams says she expects to enter 18 tournaments this season.

That would represent a significant increase for the Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, who was severely criticized last year for playing only 12 events.

Williams, who held the No. 1 world ranking for three weeks before Australian Open champion Jennifer Capriati reclaimed the top spot on Monday, will be playing her sixth tournament of the year when she opens her defense of the Nasdaq-100 Open title against Danish qualifier Eva Dyrberg.

"This year I'm trying to get up to 17 or 18," said Williams, the winner of three titles this season, Paris, Antwerp and the Gold Coast. "I want to live up to the commitment, the tournaments and the Tour.

"That might not be easy but I think I owe it to myself and I'd like to help the Tour out also. The events people want to see the top players play and I need to show up."

Playing in Paris, Antwerp and Dubai was the first time since late 1998 that Williams had competed in three consecutive events, the effort briefly earning her the No. 1 ranking for the first time in her career.

Williams's comments came as welcome news to the WTA, which went through most of last season with one of its biggest attractions only making rare appearances.

"She is arguably one of the most recognizable athletes in the world and certainly a fan favorite so it is certainly a positive development that we are going to be seeing her more on the Tour," WTA communications director Jim Fuhse said.

"There had been indications that she planned to play more but this is super news."

While Williams will be increasing her tournament load, she and her sister Serena will not be playing Fed Cup against Austria next month in Charlotte, N.C. The U.S squad was announced by captain Billie Jean King on Thursday, but Venus indicated that they had not planned to play in the tie anyway.

"I was 50-50 about playing anyway because I was playing here and in another tournament," Venus said. "Believe it or not, I have a few things going on in my life and I needed to be at home, too."