Madrid Open: Nadal cruise past Blanch to enter third round

Rafael Nadal made a winning start at the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday, when he raced past 16-year-old wild card Darwin Blanch 6-1, 6-0 after 64 minutes.

The five-time champion Rafael Nadal who is making his 20th appearance at the Mutua Madrid Open made life difficult for the American teen Blanch, who committed 27 unforced errors, including 20 off his forehand, in just his second ATP Tour match.

In what was the largest age gap (21 years, 117 days) between two opponents at ATP Masters 1000 level, Nadal won 59 per cent of his return points and did not face a break point on his own serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“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.”

In just his sixth match of the season, Nadal freely moved around the court and showed no signs of physical limitations in front of a packed crowd at Manolo Santana Stadium.

A five-time champion in Madrid, Nadal owns the most wins (57) at the Caja Magica, where the home favourite first claimed the title in 2008 and most recently triumphed in 2017.

The 36-time ATP Masters 1000 champion will next face 10th seed Alex de Minaur, who ousted the Spaniard last week in Barcelona. The 92-time tour-level titlist leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 3-2.