Rafael Nadal back in training (Rafael Nadal Twitter)
Rafael Nadal has been out of action for more than a month after suffering a rib injury at the Indian Wells Masters
Rafael Nadal took to social media to announce his return to training sessions after being out of action for more than four weeks.
“Today after 4 weeks without stepping on a tennis court, first light training. What an illusion to step in the earth again”, Nadal wrote in his tweet.
It is clearly seen in the tweet that Nadal is back practising on clay surface, evidently aiming to be fit in time and be on the top of his game at the Roland Garros, starting in the last week of May. The clay-court season is currently in progress on the ATP tour and Nadal would like to recover in time to play a clay-court event as a warm-up tournament leading to the all-important second Grand Slam of the year.
Rafael Nadal suffered a stress fracture in his rib which potentially ruled him out for up to six weeks. Rafael Nadal complained of a chest issue during his run to the final of the Indian Wells Masters in California last week. Upon his arrival in Spain, Nadal visited his team in Barcelona for tests which revealed a ‘stress fracture of the third left costal arch.’
Nadal has had a busy 2022 so far. He has played 4 tournaments since the start of the season. Nadal was in top form and has won three previous tournaments he played in – the Melbourne Summer Set, the Australian Open and the Mexican Open. He then made it to the final of Indian Wells Masters but eventually lost it playing with injury.
Rafael Nadal had earlier announced that he has withdrawn from the Miami Open to manage his workload and keep himself fit for the clay court season.
Nadal’s plans of preparing for the clay-court season are now definitely hampered due to the rib injury. He missed the Monte Carlo Masters, a tournament played on clay surfaces and is considered to be an ideal warm-up event leading to the Roland Garros in Paris. However, Nadal should be fit in time for the Grand Slam in Paris in pursuit of a record 22nd Grand Slam.
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