Rafael Nadal may return in Madrid

Nadal’s doctor is hoping he can be back from his cracked rib before the initial prognosis of six weeks out with a target set for the Madrid Open.

Rafael Nadal could be back in time for the Madrid Masters, if his rehabilitation from a cracked rib goes well. The 21-times Grand Slam champion suffered the injury in his semi-final win over Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells and played the final against Taylor Fritz without knowing the extent of the problem.

The prognosis for Nadal is an absence of four to six weeks, which means he will definitely miss Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, two of his favourite tournaments. Six weeks off would take him right up to the start of the Madrid Masters, which begins on May 1 but his doctor, Dr Angel Ruiz-Cotorro, says they would hope to reduce the period he’s off the Tour.

Contact by the Spanish radio station RadiogacetaRNE, he said:

“We’re going to adapt the work in function of the pain. For now, the priority is to remove the pain. Once the pain’s removed we’ll be working as much as we can. With this in mind and the evolution it has, we’ll see if we can shorten the time, although four to six weeks is quite logical.”

His countryman and former world No 2 Alex Corretja believes it’s vital that Nadal plays at least one of Madrid and Rome in order to be confident going into Roland-Garros.