Rafael Nadal's chances of French Open triumph analysed as injury disrupts preparations

Rafael Nadal's preparations for his favourite tournament have been thrown into turmoil by his latest injury concern. The Spaniard played through the pain of an undiagnosed stress fracture on his rib and, although the problem has now been identified, is set to miss several weeks of action.

Nadal's impressive 20-match winning streak came to an abrupt end in the Indian Wells Masters final on Sunday. He had overcome his breathing difficulties and chest pain to beat Carlos Alcaraz in his semi-final, but fell to American home favourite Taylor Fritz in the trophy-decider.

On Tuesday, he announced on social media that the problem had been found and that he was set for some more time on the sidelines. 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," he wrote.

"As it turns out, I have a stress crack in one of my ribs and will be out for 4-6 weeks. This is not good news and I did not expect this. I am hollow and sad because after the start of the season I have had such a good time."

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The injury has forced the Spaniard to make some late changes to his schedule ahead of the French Open. His next outing was due to be at the Monte Carlo Masters to kick off his clay court season campaign, but by his own admission that is now impossible with the start of the competition less than three weeks away.

Nadal is also set to miss the Barcelona Open a week later, meaning two important clay court tournaments will be missed. That will no doubt affect his preparations as he bids to win the Roland Garros title for an incredible 14th time.

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