The 35-year-old was fighting damage coming into Sunday’s ultimate and was seen wincing all through the match, frequently touching the left aspect of his torso.
Nadal got here into the ultimate on a 20-match profitable streak — his greatest ever begin to a season — that included his record-breaking twenty first grand slam victory on the Australian Open.
“Hello everyone, I wanted to announce that I’ve come back to Spain and immediately went to see my medical team so they could run some tests after the Indian Wells final, which I played hurt,” wrote Nadal.
“In the end, it turns out I have a stress fracture on one of my ribs and I will be out between 4 and 6 weeks. This isn’t good news and I didn’t expect this. I’m down and sad about this because of the incredible start to the year I had.
“A vital time of 12 months was arising with a number of good emotions and good outcomes. However effectively, I’ve all the time had that preventing spirit and of overcoming issues and what I’ll do is have endurance and work laborious after my restoration. As soon as once more thanks all for the help,” added Nadal.
Nadal is more likely to miss the Monte Carlo Masters subsequent month and the Barcelona Open the next week on April 18.
The Spaniard might be eying a return to the court docket forward of the second grand slam of the 12 months, the French Open, which begins in Paris on Could 22.
Nadal, who’s a 13-time champion at Roland Garros, might be bidding to win again the title from defending champion Novak Djokovic.