"I'm sad" - Nadal reveals rib fracture, will miss 4 - 6 weeks of action

Rafael Nadal returned to Spain and anounced on his social media that he will be out for 4-6 six weeks due to a stress francture in his rib.

The injury happened during Nadal's semifinal match against Carlos Alcaraz when he started to feel pain after a volley that had him extend himself to full lenght at the net. Nadla finished off the match and never spoke about it but it became clear that it bothered him a lot during his match against Fritz. He took seeveral MTO's during tha match but ultimately it was too much to overcome.

After the match, he admitted to feeling pain in his chest while also having trouble breathing. Now, upon tests done in Barcelona, Nadal revealed it's a stress fracture in one of his ribs that is bothering him. Recovery will take at least 4-6 weeks. He wrote:

"Hello everyone, I wanted to announce that I have returned to Spain and I immediately went to visit my medical team to do the tests after the Indian Wells final that I played with discomfort.

As it turns out, I have a stress crack in one of my ribs and will be out for 4-6 weeks. This is not good news and I did not expect this. I am sunk and sad because after the start of the season I have had such a good time.

I reached a very important part of the year with very good feelings and good results. But hey, I've always had that fighting and overcoming spirit and what I will do is be patient and work hard after my recovery. Once again thank everyone for the support."