IN BRIEF (Page 23)

TENNIS

Smiling Nadal leaves hospital

Rafael Nadal was all smiles on Wednesday, saying he felt fine as he left the Barcelona hospital where he underwent appendix surgery this week. "Everything went well. It was a simple, commonplace operation," said Nadal, who went under the knife on Monday. "I'm doing fine," he said. But the 14-time Grand Slam winner would only answer "when I'm better" on questions concerning a return to the court. The Mallorcan said before surgery he would need five weeks to recover.