Rafael Nadal, of Spain, reacts to the crowd after losing to Taylor Fritz in the men's singles finals at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, March 20, 2022, in Indian Wells, California. (MARK J. TERRILL / AP)

MADRID - Spanish tennis ace Rafael Nadal confirmed on Tuesday that he will be out of action for four to six weeks after suffering a stress fracture on the left side of his ribs.

Nadal, who is currently third in the ATP world rankings after winning in Australia and Mexico at the start of the year, had needed treatment on his ribs as he suffered his first defeat of the season in the final at Indian Wells at the weekend

Nadal, who is currently third in the ATP world rankings after winning in Australia and Mexico at the start of the year, had needed treatment on his ribs as he suffered his first defeat of the season in the final at Indian Wells at the weekend.

Nadal used his social media accounts to confirm his injury.

"Hello everyone, I want to announce that I have come back to Spain and I immediately went to visit my medical team to carry out tests after playing the final at Indian Wells with problems."

"It turns out that I have a stress fracture in one of my ribs and I will be out of action for between 4 to 6 weeks. It's not good news and I wasn't expecting it. I am disappointed and sad after having such a good start to the season," commented Nadal, who will now miss events in both Monte Carlo and Barcelona at the start of the clay-court season.

Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a forehand return to Matteo Berrettini of Italy during their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Jan 28, 2022. (TERTIUS PICKARD / AP)

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"I had reached a very important part of the year with really good feelings and good results, but I have always had a spirit to battle and overcome problems and I will be patient and work hard to recover," Nadal concluded.