Rafael Nadal to be out of action for six weeks

Rafael Nadal admitted to suffering breathing problems during the Indian Wells Masters 2022 final defeat. He will now be out of action for six weeks, hampering 2022 French Open preparations.

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Rafael Nadal of Spain has been struggling with some breathing problems of late. He admitted to the same during his recent 2022 Indian Wells Masters final defeat to Taylor Fritz of the United States of America (USA). As a result, he will be missing out on the upcoming Miami Open and is also in line to miss out on the Monte Carlo Masters 2022 and 2022 Barcelona Open.

Nadal's participation in the Madrid Masters 2022 is also doubtful, thus denting his preparations for the 2022 French Open in late May. However, he is expected to be back during the Rome Masters 2022, right before Roland Garros. The Grand Slam is scheduled to run between May 22 to June 5, and the Spaniard will be looking to win his record-extending 14th title at the event.

Taking to his Twitter, Nadal 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 four to six weeks. This is not good news, and I did not expect this."

"I am down 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 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, I thank everyone for the support," he concluded.

Speaking on his recent breathing problems, Nadal had stated after the IW final, "It's tough for me to breathe. When I try to breathe, it's painful, and it's very uncomfortable. When I'm breathing, when I'm moving, it's like a needle all the time inside here. I get dizzy a little bit because it's painful. It's a kind of pain that limits me a lot. It's not only about pain. I don't feel very well because it affects my breathing."