Serena says Fed Cup presence depends on fitness

BEIJING -- Serena Williams has every intention of playing in next month's Fed Cup final against Italy, if she's fit enough.

"I definitely want to play again, I'm just trying to get there," said Williams, who will return to the No. 1 ranking next week. "It's just really hard to see how my body is going to be after Doha.

"If I'm walking, then I really want to go. I have to go."

The season-ending WTA Tour Championship in Doha is her main individual priority at a stage of the year in which she says exhaustion and injuries usually become more prevalent due to player fatigue.

Williams was speaking in Beijing where she was eliminated Thursday in the third round of the China Open by Nadia Petrova of Russia.

Italy will host the Nov. 7-8 final at a site still to be determined.

The U.S. has won a record 17 Fed Cup titles but none since 2000, while the Italians have reached three of the past four finals -- winning their only title in 2006 over Belgium.

Italy's captain Corrado Barazzutti has reportedly been scouting for a venue with slow clay courts to take some edge off the power games of Williams and her older sister, Venus.