Tennis Great Rafa Nadel Has an Appendectomy

Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal underwent an appendectomy Monday in Barcelona and will be released from the hospital in 24-48 hours, “depending on his post-operative progress,” his publicist said.

Nadal was operated on at Barcelona’s Teknon medical clinic, where Dr. Jose Maria Segura Movellan and his team performed the surgical procedure under the supervision of Royal Spanish Tennis Federation physician Dr. Angel Ruiz-Cotorro.

Segura Movellan was the doctor chosen by Ruiz Cotorro to meet with Nadal on his return from Shanghai and examine his appendix.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion was diagnosed with appendicitis prior to the start of last month’s Shanghai Masters, where he lost to countryman Feliciano Lopez in his opening match.

Nadal was upset on Oct. 24 in the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors by Croatian teenager Borna Coric and said after the match that he would undergo an appendectomy and not play in any more tournaments in the 2014 season.

The Spaniard pulled out of last week’s Paris Masters and the elite, eight-man Barclays ATP World Tour Finals to be played Nov. 9-16 in London.

“The tennis player has been operated on for his appendix, which has been ailing him for four weeks since the tournament in Shanghai (China),” his publicist said in a statement. “An appendectomy via laparoscopy was done without any intraoperative incidents and it is expected that he will be released from the clinic in 24-48 hours, depending on his post-operative progress.”

Nadal may hold a press conference if he is released from the hospital on Tuesday.

The world No. 3 announced last week that he would compete in the Copa Claro tournament in Buenos Aires scheduled for Feb. 21-March 1, 2015.

The 28-year-old Nadal missed the tournament in Buenos Aires this year due to a back injury and he will be playing in the Argentine capital for only the second time.

The Spaniard missed the entire North American hard-court season, including the U.S. Open, because of a wrist injury.

Published in Latino Daily News