Nadal to play 16-year-old Darwin Blanch in Madrid, faces rematch with De Minaur

The Spaniard could play De Minaur for the second time in as many weeks

Imago / Panoramic

April 22, 2024

Rafael Nadal could find himself up against Alex de Minaur again after the draw was made for the Madrid Masters on Monday.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion, who made his return to the ATP Tour in Barcelona last week after three months away through injury – and having played one event in 16 months – will face American Darwin Blanch in the first round, an American ranked 1028, who has been given a wildcard.

21, 117 – The age gap of 21y 117d between Rafael Nadal and Darwin Blanch will be the biggest between two opponents in an ATP Masters 1000 match since 1990, surpassing the 18y 344d between Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors – Miami R32 1992. Eras.#MMOPEN | @MutuaMadridOpen @atptour https://t.co/25Sm6dgCLU
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) April 22, 2024

Should Nadal get through that one, the 37-year-old would play De Minaur for the second time in as many weeks. The Australian, the 10th seed this week, beat Nadal 7-5, 6-1 in Barcelona after the 12-time Barcelona champion had won his opening match against Flavio Cobolli.

Here’s the ATP draw!@atptour | @ATPTour_ES | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/31WIHwr1qF
— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) April 22, 2024

Sinner No 1 seed; Alcaraz nursing injury

With Novak Djokovic choosing to miss the event, Jannik Sinner is the No 1 seed, with Carlos Alcaraz the No 2, though the Spaniard is still recovering fitness after missing both Monte-Carlo and Barcelona with a forearm issue.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, the winner in Monte-Carlo and runner-up in Barcelona, Casper Ruud, who beat Tsitsipas to win the title in Barcelona, and Daniil Medvedev are all in the top half.

Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune and Hubert Hurkacz join Alcaraz in the bottom half.