Darwin Blanch, making his second ATP Masters 1000 appearance in the space of five weeks, sees his hopes of causing a seismic shock dashed by the great Rafael Nadal; you can watch the Mutua Madrid Open exclusively live on Sky Sports Tennis
Thursday 25 April 2024 23:35, UK
Rafael Nadal dominated promising 16-year-old wild card Darwin Blanch to claim a masterful 6-1 6-0 victory in the opening round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday.
Lefty Blanch was making just his second ATP Masters 1000 appearance in the space of five weeks after his tour-level debut on home soil in Miami.
But his 37-year-old idol Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion and a record five-time winner in Madrid, was in no mood for handing out gifts as he wrapped up victory in just 63 minutes.
Nadal's power and prowess was too much for Blanch, who committed 27 unforced errors, including 20 off his forehand as the former world No 1 won 59 per cent of his return points and did not face a break point on his own serve.
He broke the American at the first opportunity in the second game before grabbing the first set in just 28 minutes.
The Spaniard, who last claimed the title on Madrid's clay in 2017, broke again to take the lead in the second set and kept up the pace, giving a tennis masterclass to young Blanch.
"I think today I played against an opponent with a great future in front [of him], but today, still making mistakes. I just tried to be there, be solid all the time without taking a lot of risks," Nadal said. "It worked well. I'm happy to be through and I wish him all the very best for the future."
Nadal has said on several occasions this is set to be his final season on tour, but so far it has not panned out the way the Spaniard would have hoped.
He will play world No 11 De Minaur in the second round on Saturday.
The Australian defeated Nadal 7-5 6-1 in the second round of the Barcelona Open last week when the Spaniard was playing his first tournament since January.
"Great feelings. Emotional feelings," said Rafael Nadal, speaking to Sky Sports Tennis. "Playing here has always been a huge pleasure - the support is difficult to describe in words.
"I enjoyed the fact that I could go out there one more time - and the victory too.
"I'm just trying to stay focussed on where I need to be and see how far I can go in terms of pushing my physical performance.
And on playing De Minaur next, he added: "To play against Alex, I need to keep improving things.
"Last week I was able to play a very competitive set but in the second I had to give up. Let's see in two days how far I can go and I'll just try to enjoy again."
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