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Twenty-one time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal has announced on Twitter that he suffered a stress fracture in one of his ribs. He will be out for four to six weeks.
Nadal’s 20-match winning streak this season came to an end on Sunday when American Taylor Fritz won against him 6-3 7-6 at the Indian Wells. It became Fritz’s first Masters 1000 title.
35-year-old Nadal was seen visibly wincing during the match, regularly touching the left side of his torso.
The 20-match winning streak, including his record-breaking 21st grand slam victory at the Australian Open, had been Nadal’s best-ever start to a season.
“Hello everyone, I wanted to announce that I’ve come back to Spain and immediately went to see my medical team so they could run some tests after the Indian Wells final, which I played hurt,” wrote Nadal.
“In the end, it turns out I have a stress fracture on one of my ribs and I will be out between 4 and 6 weeks. This isn’t good news and I didn’t expect this. I’m down and sad about this because of the incredible start to the year I had.
“A very important time of year was coming up with a lot of good feelings and good results. But well, I have always had that fighting spirit and of overcoming things and what I will do is have patience and work hard after my recovery. Once again thank you all for the support,” added Nadal.
Nadal will not be participating in the Monte Carlo Masters next month and the Barcelona Open on April 18.
He aims to return to court ahead of the second grand slam of the year, the French Open, on May 22 in Paris.
Nadal, a 13-time champion at Roland Garros, will be bidding to win back the title from defending champion Novak Djokovic.
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