Serena to return Monday @ Linz tournament

LINZ, Austria -- World No. 1 Serena Williams, who hasn't played competitive tennis since winning Wimbledon, said Thursday she'll return to tournament play next week in Austria.  Williams announced she would participate in the Generali Ladies Linz tournament, a $220,000 event in Austria that begins Monday. She is also expected to participate in the WTA Championships in Qatar the last week of October and the Fed Cup final Nov. 6-7 in San Diego when the United States goes against Italy.

Williams hasn't played competitive tennis since she cut a foot on broken glass, an injury that required surgery, shortly after winning Wimbledon.  Her announcement about Austria comes one day after Venus Williams said a leg injury would keep her out action for the rest of the year.  It also was made the day Caroline Wozniacki locked up enough WTA rankings points to knock Serena Williams from the No. 1 spot in the rankings. Williams has been the top-ranked women's tennis player for the last 49 weeks.