A young American tennis prodigy is set to face 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal at his home tournament in Madrid, after being gifted a wildcard entry to the event.
Blanch, 16, is currently number 1,028 in the world rankings, but must feel like he has won the lottery after being picked out alongside Nadal for the first round of the clay tournament.
The teenager took to Snapchat in complete shock at the news on Monday, posting a picture of himself covering his face, alongside the caption: ‘Guys I play Nadal wtf’
Nadal is a record five-time champion in Madrid, but it is Blanch’s first time competing, and he has career earnings of $30,650, compared to Nadal’s $134.7million.
The Spaniard has been recovering from injury and has slipped to 512 in the rankings, which may give Blanch a sliver of hope ahead of their battle on Wednesday afternoon (Wednesday 4am EST).
Darwin Blanch couldn’t believe it after being drawn against Rafael Nadal at the Madrid Open
Blanch played in the Boys’ Singles at the US Open last year, but is now making the step up
Blanch, 16, is pictured at Wimbledon last year. He has earned $30,650 so far in his career
Blanch was born in September 2007, and played in his first ever ATP Masters 1000 event last month in Miami, losing to world No 50 Tomas Machac in straight sets.
He has since traveled to Spain and got to the semifinals of the lower-ranked M15 Telde, eventually losing to Diego Augusto Barreto Sanchez, after wins over three players in the earlier rounds.
Elsewhere in the Madrid Open tournament lineup, Carlos Alcaraz is back from injury to try to win a third consecutive title, but top-ranked Novak Djokovic is missing.
Alcaraz will be competing in his first European clay-court event of the season after skipping Monte Carlo and Barcelona because of a right arm injury.
The 20-year-old Spaniard begins his title defense against Alexander Shevchenko or Arthur Rinderknech.
Nadal is coming back from injury, and will face a player he has never faced before in Madrid
Carlos Alcaraz is back in the field and looking to win a third straight Madrid Open title this year
The winner of Blanch and Nadal’s match-up will face 10th-seed Alex de Minaur in the next round.
Nadal lost to De Minaur in the second round at the Barcelona Open last week in his first tournament for more than three months.
The 37-year-old Nadal last won the Madrid title in 2017, when he beat Dominic Thiem in the final.
Three-time champion Djokovic will not play for a second consecutive year in Madrid, reducing his clay-court preparations for his French Open title defense.
