Tennis: Darwin Blanch, this young 16-year-old American who is challenging Rafael Nadal in Madrid

The tennis player, heralded as a great hope in the United States, plays against the Spanish legend in the first round of the Masters 1000 in Madrid.

Will Rafael Nadal perform at Roland Garros? The Spaniard cast doubt on Wednesday April 14 at a press conference on the sidelines of the Masters 1000 in Madrid. The tennis legend returned to competition last week in Barcelona after a three-month absence (eliminated in the second round), but admitted that he is not 100% physically fit. And if not, he is even thinking about withdrawing from Roland-Garros. Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal will play his first round at the Masters 1000 in Madrid on Thursday, a clay-court tournament he has won five times.

The 37-year-old Spaniard will face Darwin Blanch, a player invited by the organizers, in the first round. At the age of 16, this great hope of American tennis ranks 1028th in the AFP world rankings. Franceinfo presents this (very) young tennis player, who will fight against “Rafa” and his 22 Grand Slam titles.

A left-hander who trains regularly with Carlos Alcaraz

One statistic sums up this matchup: the two players are 21 years apart, an age gap never before seen in tennis history. Darwin Blanch was born in Florida on September 28, 2007. On that date, Rafael Nadal was world number 2 and had already won 23 tournaments, including three Roland-Garros. The American is more of a precocious guy: this left-hander became the United States under-16 champion at just 14 years old.

He then left Florida for Alicante, Spain, where he joined the academy created by Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 Roland-Garros winner and former world No. 1. The latter is none other than Carlos Alcaraz’s coach, with whom he trains regularly. “All the training sessions with Carlos really help me, he gives me advice. Every time I train with him, it’s a great pleasure and I get the most out of it”assures Darwin Blanch about the Spaniard, winner of two Grand Slam tournaments and currently the 3rd tennis player in the world.

Djokovic as an idol, Rafael Nadal as a role model

Carlos Alcaraz is his training partner, but Darwin Blanch has Novak Djokovic as his idol. On the other hand, his model is called Rafael Nadal. “When I was younger, I imitated his forehand lariat. I really imitated him, but also his warrior spirit. Everyone said: that’s Nadal”, says the young American. So facing Nadal is definitely for him “big dream”. “Compared to everything he’s done for the sport, it’s great.”exclaims the lefty.

But tennis is not the only area in which he is gifted, because Darwin Blanch speaks four languages: English, Spanish, Chinese and Thai.