Rafael Nadal is back on the practice court after rib injury lay-off
The 21-time Grand Slam champion suffered a stress fracture in his rib during his run to the final at Indian Wells.
Rafael Nadal announced on Twitter Monday that he鈥檚 finally back on the practice court鈥攆or a light practice鈥攁fter being sidelined four weeks due to a stress fracture in his rib.
The injury occurred at Indian Wells, where he reached the 53rd Masters 1000 final of his career before falling to American Taylor Fritz. After the tournament he returned to Spain and underwent tests to diagnose it, and announced he would be out of action for four to six weeks.
The Spaniard was forced to miss two of his best tournaments鈥擬onte Carlo last week, where he鈥檚 an 11-time champion, and Barcelona this week, where he鈥檚 a 12-time champion.
Madrid takes place the week after next, with Rome directly behind.
Nadal had an historic start to 2022, getting off to a blistering 20-0 start鈥攖he best unbeaten start to a year in his career鈥攊n winning the Melbourne Summer Set, the Australian Open and Acapulco, then reaching the final of Indian Wells.
By capturing his 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, he became the men鈥檚 all-time leader for most career Grand Slam titles, breaking a three-way tie with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.