He’s OK! Rafael Nadal made it clear yesterday to the press that his rib is okay, and he’s fine after taking six weeks off the rest the injury.

“Fine, I’m fine,” Nadal told reporters in Madrid on Sunday. “Talking about injury, I’m recovered. I feel good.”

However, the injury has stunted Nadal preparations on his favorite surface — he didn’t start serving again until last week. Although the lack of prep didn’t hurt him Down Under.

“Talking about my tennis game and preparations, well, it’s completely different story. Anyone who has broken a rib knows how limiting it is, very painful, especially the first weeks.

“I wasn’t able to do anything with a lot of difficulties even to fall asleep even because of the pain, but after that, little by little I was able to go a little bit to the gym.

“I tried not to make a lot of movements, but try to recover as fast as possible. It’s been a period that I haven’t been able to do a lot of things. So as you can imagine, it’s been six weeks of which I started to train two weeks ago. Well, first week I was just training half an hour per day, and very, very gently, very softly, and, well, doesn’t come.

“I have improved compared to when I came here, but I still have up and downs, because it’s been a long time without being in these kind of situations and it’s going to be a difficult week, for sure. That’s the reality.”

Nadal will seek a sixth title and first since 2017 when he opens play in Madrid on Wednesday.