Russian star Marat Safin claims he is ready to return to the top echelon of world tennis as he prepares to resume competition after six months struggling with a serious wrist injury.

The 23-year-old has been bothered by his injury for six months and in July finally was forced to take a break from the game.

Safin has spent the past two months relaxing and recovering while watching his rivals on television.

"I missed tennis a lot, really," Safin said.

"Every time I was watching a tournament on television I was saying to myself: 'this is you who should be playing that match and winning it.

"I was playing well at the start of the year, I defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4 6-3 at the Barcelona semi-finals, and I was feeling well when I arrived in Rome.

"But my injury changed everything."

After reaching the Australian Open third round, Safin missed out on the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

"I have had the time to think about things, my situation and my ambitions," Safin added in L'Equipe.

"I love tennis, it has given me a lot of joy but I want more."

He hopes to be back next month for the Madrid and Bercy Masters Series - which he won in Paris last year.

"I am going to try to finish the year the best I can, in order to start the new one completely fresh," he said.

"It's as if I was starting back from scratch. I would like to be ready for Madrid and Bercy and show all the other players that I am still dangerous.

"It would be good to finish the year in the top 50. But I hope that the year 2004 will be my year.

"I want to be back into the top 10 and target the world number one spot."