Rafael Nadal to undergo stem cell treatment on back

Rafael Nadal, the No. 3 ranked player in the world, is having stem cell treatment on his injured back, Marca.com reports. Nadal, 28, injured his back during the Australian Open in January and has been bothered by the injury throughout the year.

Rafael Nadal, the No. 3 ranked player in the world, will undergo stem cell treatment on his injured back, Marca.com reports.

Nadal, 28, injured his back during the Australian Open in January and has been bothered by the injury throughout the year.

His coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, said he did not have the treatment earlier in the year because of how long the process takes.

"He's had them for the past six months," said Toni Nadal. "It's stem cell treatment, and doing it properly requires five weeks," he added when explaining why they did not take advantage of the three months between July and October. "Because we all thought that he'd play at the US Open, we were more focused on his wrist injury, which looked to be healing well."

"I'm not saying it was completely down to his back, but it's true that he wasn't fit to compete to the best of his ability," he added.

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The AP also confirmed with Nadal's doctor that the Spaniard is undergoing treatment. According to the AP's report, the treatment will begin next week. 

Nadal, who won the French Open for the ninth time in 10 years, battled a variety of injuries throughout the season. He missed three months from July to October with a wrist injury and had an appendectomy earlier this month.

The 14-time Grand Slam winner won four tournaments this season: the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, the Rio Open 500, the Matua Madrid Open and the French Open.

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- Paul Palladino