Rafael Nadal's injury was unexpected, he'll now have to recover, train and hopefully play a tournament before Roland Garros: Alex Corretja

In a recent conversation with Eurosport, Alex Corretja spoke about Rafael Nadal's rib injury and how it could impact the rest of his season. Corretja feels the injury came out of the blue, just when the Spaniard was at the peak of his powers.

Nadal felt some discomfort in his chest during his Indian Wells semifinal against Carlos Alcaraz. He then played the final despite having trouble breathing. After the tournament, it was revealed that he had suffered a rib stress fracture that would rule him out for up to six weeks.

Corretja, on his part, feels Nadal sustained the injury at the worst possible time with the clay season just around the corner.

"This injury for Rafa was absolutely unexpected," Corretja said. "Honestly, he was in perfect form, with confidence, winning matches. It really was a perfect start for the season, but sometimes it can happen that when you haven't competed for a while you start to win many sets, many matches and that sometimes causes a new injury, as has been the case this time."

Corretja hopes the Spaniard can make a speedy recovery and compete at Roland Garros.

"The real shame is that the best part of the season was coming for him: the clay. Now he is going to have to recover, go back to training, and hopefully, he can play a tournament prior to Roland Garros because really the expectations, and the hopes that he will win again in Paris, are very high. Hopefully he will arrive in shape because I sincerely believe that it is very important that Nadal is on the circuit," he added.

"For now, the priority is to remove the pain" - Rafael Nadal's doctor

Rafael Nadal's doctor said about the Spaniard's recovery

Rafael Nadal's doctor Dr. Angel Ruiz Cotorro shed some light on the Spaniard's injury. The doctor said the the priority at present was to ensure Nadal could carry out his activities without any pain.

"We're going to adapt the work in function of the pain," Dr. Cotorro said. "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 & the evolution it has, we'll see if we can shorten the time...4-6 weeks is quite logical."

Nadal will likely miss the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open. It will be interesting to see if the Spaniard recovers in time to compete at the Madrid and Rome Masters before Roland Garros.