Rafael Nadal praised for his 'courage' after being told Indian Wells was a mistake

Rafael Nadal has been hailed for continuing to fight through injuries days after being told he made a mistake by playing Indian Wells. The world No 3 picked up a rib injury during his semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz that has sidelined him for four to six weeks.

Nadal started the season by winning three titles - including a record 21st Grand Slam - and his first 20 matches in a row. His last victory came against Alcaraz in Indian Wells when the 35-year-old ended up with a stress fracture in his rib, something he didn't find out until after he had played and lost his final to Taylor Fritz the following day.

The Spaniard was criticised for playing Indian Wells by seven-time Major champion Mats Wilander, who admitted Nadal paid the price for competing in Indian Wells instead of resting up for the clay season after his title win in Acapulco. "I thought, after he won Acapulco, beating Danill Medvedev again, that he would take free time and skip Indian Wells and Miami, that he would take a month off for the clay court season. I think he put too much strain on his body, but Rafa Nadal loves tennis so much and to compete, he felt good, he left and ran to the maximum," he told Eurosport.

The man known as the 'King of Clay' will now be forced to miss the first two events of the clay swing - the Monte Carlo Masters and Barcelona ATP 500 - as he recovers from his rib injury, but a seasoned tennis coach has admitted he "admires" Nadal for pushing on through injuries despite Wilander believing it was the wrong move in Indian Wells.

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Rob Steckley, the former coach of Denis Shapovalov, admitted he and the world No 14 used to marvel at Nadal's ability to keep on