The King of Clay will miss the start of his favorite part of the season.
Rafael Nadal is out for 4-6 weeks after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his rib following the BNP Paribas Open. Nadal struggled physically at the end of his semifinal win over Carlos Alcaraz and it was clearly a factor during his 6-3, 7-6(5) loss to Taylor Fritz in the Indian Wells title match.
“Hi everyone, I wanted to let you know that I’m back in Spain and I went straight to see my medical team for tests after the Indian Wells final, which I played in discomfort,” Nadal wrote on social media (translated from Spanish). “I have a stress fracture in one of my ribs and I will be out for 4 to 6 weeks. It’s not good news and I didn’t expect this. I am devastated and sad because after such a good start to the season I have had.
“Now is a very important time of the year for me and I had a very good feeling (on the court) and good results. Well, I have always had that spirit of fighting and overcoming and what I will do is be patient and work hard after my recovery. Once again I would like to thank everyone for their support.”
“Good results” would be an understatement.
The 35-year-old Spaniard was 20-0 this season prior to coming up short against Fritz. That undefeated run included three titles–a 250 in Melbourne, the Australian Open, and a 500 in Acapulco. In addition to his thriller against Alcaraz, Nadal also beat Sebastian Korda (from 5-2 down in the third set), Dan Evans, Reilly Opelka, and Nick Kyrgios in the desert.
Nadal’s withdrawal from the Miami Open was unrelated to the rib issue. The 21-time Grand Slam champion had already been planning on getting some rest in between four consecutive hard-court tournaments and the beginning of the clay-court swing. In fact, he withdrew from Miami before even playing his first match in Indian Wells.
A timeframe of 4-6 weeks will sideline Nadal from at least the Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona. The world No. 3 will be hoping to return for Madrid, Rome, and the French Open.
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