Kolkata: Tennis ace Leander Paes on October 23 said that he has set a realistic target of returning to the tennis court in the first week of coming January once he recovered fully from a parasitic infection in the brain.

''I've set a realistic target of returning to tennis action by playing an ATP tournament in the first week of January,'' Paes told reporters.

The tennis star, who has been ruled out of action since August when he was admitted to the M D Anderson Medical Centre at Orlando with a suspected brain tumour, said he was in the process of setting his calendar for next year.

Paes, who would undergo a MRI scan on October 26 to determine whether the cyst in his brain had completely disappeared, said that he was earlier planning to hit the court at the doubles tournament in Houston out of his sense of responsibility to partner David Rikl.

''But doctors are now against it. I'll go by their advice, as the last thing I want is the recurrence of the same ailment,'' he said.

Paes said he was also looking forward to teaming up with tennis legend Martina Navratilova once again to defend their mixed doubles title at the Australian Open.

''During the last two and half months, her support, character and courage has helped me a lot in tiding over the worst crisis of my career,'' he added.

PTI