By N. Ananthanarayanan

NEW DELHI - Croatia's Mario Ancic has set his sights on qualifying for the year-end Masters Cup in Shanghai after enjoying a successful return from injury.

The 22-year-old world number 11 was sidelined for more than two months with a knee problem he picked up after his Wimbledon quarter-final defeat, marring an otherwise stellar season in which he broke into the top 10 for the first time.

In his comeback event last week, the big-serving Croat lost the China Open final to Cypriot Marcus Baghdatis, but he did claim the doubles title with Indian partner Mahesh Bhupathi.

"I think that is something unbelievable," Ancic told reporters.

"Playing singles the first week after not playing for two-and-a-half months.

"I was working very hard for 10 weeks," he added.

"It was very hard to expect anything and I reached the final, beat many good guys."

The Croatian number two plays in the Mumbai Open starting next week, where he is likely to be seeded second behind Spanish world number six Tommy Robredo.

Ancic spoke to reporters after holding a tennis clinic for children in the Indian capital on Wednesday.

TOUGH SCHEDULE

Ancic blamed his busy schedule for the 6-4 6-0 final defeat to Baghdatis in Beijing.

"I was a little bit tired playing both singles and doubles," he said.

"But the most important thing is my knee is fine and I'm ready to continue."

Since the retirement of former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, Ancic has emerged as the joint flag-bearer of Croatian tennis with world number three Ivan Ljubicic.

Despite suffering a number of injuries this season, the Split-born Ancic won the 's-Hertogenbosch title in June and reached the quarter-finals of the French Open and Wimbledon, falling on both occasions to world number one Roger Federer.

Ancic, who reached three other finals this year before Beijing, is determined to claim a place in the eight-player Masters Cup in November.

He currently stands 10th in the race for a berth in the lucrative event.

"I was having a great run," he said. "It was very hard, but after the second day of the injury, I put my head down and worked hard, maybe even harder than ever.

"Maybe in some situations I haven't played my best, but I was fighting from first to last ball," he said. "It is very important for me to try to continue this in India."

Ancic, a pivotal member of Croatia's victorious 2005 Davis Cup squad, was proud of the achievement.

"It is really tennis explosion after winning the Davis Cup," he said. "At the moment, we have unbelievable skill, two guys in the top 10, Ivo Karlovic in top 100 and couple of guys coming up.

"We are up there with big countries like Russia. We can be proud of it."