Rafael Nadal returns to court for the first time in a while

Rafael Nadal has returned to the tennis court for the first time since suffering a rib injury last month in Indian Wells.

After losing in the final to Taylor Fritz, the Spaniard, who is one of the favorites to win the French Open this year, was forced to deal with a stress fracture in the United States and was initially thought to be out of play for roughly six weeks.

However, it appears that Nadal’s recuperation is progressing well ahead of the New Year’s second Grand Slam, Roland Garros.

He posted a photo of himself in training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in his hometown of Manacor on Instagram on Monday, as he ramps up his preparations for the remainder of the European clay-court season.

“First gentle training today after 4 weeks without walking on a tennis court,” said Nadal in his post. “What an illusion to foot on the earth again!”

When Nadal returns to the Grand Slam tour at the end of next month, it will be interesting to see if he can reclaim his pre-injury form in order to win another French Open.

He now holds the record for most Roland Garros victories with 13, and he’ll be hoping to beat Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev to the title this year when the action kicks off in Paris.

Nadal, on the other hand, will be trying to avoid any further setbacks on his road to full fitness before competing in the French capital later this year.

He argued after his recent loss to Fritz at Indian Wells that the timing of his current setback was unfortunate, and he stated that he struggled to breathe normally throughout the final stages of the match.

“To be honest, I’m disappointed because of how I wasn’t able to compete,” Nadal told reporters. “It’s difficult to have these feelings every day, but it’s especially unpleasant in the final.”

“But, yes, sport isn’t about reminiscing about the past. Today is a terrible day for me, therefore we need to talk about it. I was having trouble breathing; I’m not sure if it’s because of something on my rib; I’m not sure yet.

“It’s like a needle within here all the time when I’m breathing, when I’m moving. Because it’s painful, I get a little woozy. It’s a type of pain that severely restricts my activities”, he added.