Nadal started his final appearance in Madrid with a crushing victory – TennisKafe

Only and with only one game lost – this is how Rafael Nadal’s last appearance at the Masters tournament in Madrid, of which the Spaniard is a five-time champion, began.

16-year-old Darwin Blanch, playing in only his second ATP match, was unable to hold his own against one of his idols in a match that will go down in history as having the largest age gap in the history of tennis. Masters 1000 – 21 years.

It was Nadal’s 57th win in Madrid, and it came after just 63 minutes of play. From what has been seen, however, it is difficult to draw conclusions about the current state of Matador, since a huge part of his points came after unprovoked mistakes of the American. Blanch made a total of 27, 20 of which were on the forehand. This ensured fairly easy games for Nadal and allowed him to reach success without having to show anything special. Rafa finished the match with 9 winners and 9 unforced errors for a total of 53 points to the teenager’s 25.

Nadal’s success was watched by his son Rafa Jr.

“Every time I have a chance to be on the court, in this amazing stadium, it means a lot to me. I try to enjoy every moment. Tomorrow I will train again and the next day I will be on the court again, which is wonderful,” commented the 22-time Grand Slam champion immediately after the match.

The real challenge for Nadal is coming in the second round. His opponent there will be Alex de Minor, who he lost to last week in Barcelona.