Teenager Darwin Blanch makes confession about facing Rafael Nadal before he retires
Darwin Blanch managed to accomplish something that most players his age can only dream about with the youngster admitting there were a lot of nerves when he faced Rafael Nadal at the Madrid Open.
Aged just 16 and ranked No 1,028 in the world, Blanch was handed a wildcard for the ATP Masters 1000 event and he could not have asked for more difficult first-round match as he was paired with 22-time Grand Slam winner Nadal.
It was a tough lesson for the American as the tennis great dropped only one game as he came away with a 6-1, 6-0 victory in 64 minutes.
But entering the Caja Magica Arena was always going to a surreal moment and naturally there were butterflies.
“I was really nervous. Really nervous, but I was just telling myself just to go and enjoy it, do the best I could, and I was going to be proud of myself, however the match went,” he explained.
For Blanch there were tough lessons, but it is the experience that counts.
“Obviously it wasn’t my best day level-wise,” he told Tennis Majors. “I feel like I wasn’t able to bring out my best level. I also wasn’t feeling so well or anything, but obviously, you know, it was obviously a really, really good experience.
“I was really happy to be able to play Nadal in a stadium like this. So yeah, I’m going to try to take the most of it and hopefully I can, you know, bring out my level next time.”
He added: “I’m just here just for the experience. The result is not really the most important right now. So I’m going to learn and just try to apply it for my next matches.”
READ MORE: Who is Darwin Blanch, the 16-year-old US star playing Rafael Nadal in Madrid?
With Nadal confirming that the 2024 season will likely be his last year as a professional, most players from Blanch’s generation won’t be able to achieve what the 16-year-old has achieved.
“It feels really good to be able to play Rafa before – I don’t know how much he has left, but it feels really good to be able to play him before his career ends,” the American said. “So it’s definitely going to be a moment that I’m not going to forget.”
What about facing one of the “best forehands ever”?
“It was definitely a really heavy, heavy ball, at the start it was pretty hard to get used to it because it was really, really bouncy, but yeah, obviously this is Nadal – one of the best forehands ever,” he said.
