“I was really, really nervous, I must improve the mental part” – Darwin Blanch on Nadal defeat
The defeated teen took the time to speak to the media after his loss to Rafael Nadal in Madrid
Darwin Blanch (Manu Fernandez/AP/SIPA)
Darwin Blanch spoke to the media after his 6-1, 6-0 defeat at the hands of Rafael Nadal – speaking of his nerves, what he learnt from stepping on to court with a legend, and his next plans.
“Obviously it wasn’t my best day level-wise,” he began. “I feel like I wasn’t able to bring out my best level. I also wasn’t feeling so well or anything, but obviously, you know, it was obviously a really, really good experience.
“I was really happy to be able to play Nadal in a stadium like this. So yeah, I’m going to try to take the most of it and hopefully I can, you know, bring out my level next time.”
How crazy it was for you to be on that type of court at such a young age?
Yeah, it was really good, honestly. I know a lot of kids my age don’t really get to experience that with all those people around. So it felt really nice being able to experience that and it felt really, really good.
What have you learnt from playing in Miami and playing here about this level and where you are at this moment?
I think what’s most important is the mental part, just to stay there the entire match, just the crucial errors at times, and the easy errors, and you’ve just got to play every point, be there every point, and mentally just be there because if you leave mentally for a second, the match slips away.
Is it impossible to not be stressed by what was happening?
I was pretty stressed for a person my age, so this is something that I still have to get used to all this atmosphere. Playing Nadal in a stadium like this, it was never going to be easy.
Rafa's last year on tour – your generation won't have the chance to compete against him and you did it. Does that matter at all?
It feels really good to be able to play Rafa before – I don’t know how much he has left, but it feels really good to be able to play him before his career ends. So it’s definitely going to be a moment that I’m not going to forget.
Do you like the idea of not playing juniors anymore and just playing, testing yourself against men?
I think it’s a good idea, just to get to the pro level, this is what I’ve got to go through. So I’m happy with what I’m doing and what my coaches are doing.
How are you able to keep perspective and composure after a loss like that?
I’m just here just for the experience. The result is not really the most important right now. So I’m going to learn and just try to apply it for my next matches.
Was his ball close to what you expected, his volume of ball strikes?
It was definitely a really heavy, heavy ball, at the start it was pretty hard to get used to it because it was really, really bouncy, but yeah, obviously this is Nadal – one of the best forehands ever.
Was it close to your expectations? Did you try to guess it before?
I knew it was going to be really tough to bring the ball back. So I guess I was expecting it!
What was your first impression, your first feelings when you entered the court?
I was really nervous. Really nervous, but I was just telling myself just to go and enjoy it, do the best I could, and I was going to be proud of myself, however the match went.
You've practised a lot with Carlitos. Was this anything comparable to that?
I would say it’s different, like practice [to] the match here, because usually [playing] Carlos is practice in the place we usually practice, but it’s different now playing here against Nadal and everything definitely had a lot of more nerves and all that.
Is it weird going back to the Challengers?
Not really. Obviously Challengers is going to be the next step for me. Hopefully I can start doing well there and just learn a lot from these two Masters 1000.
After this experience for yourself, what would you take to improve your game?
Just the mental side really. I think the mental side is definitely the most important: just to be there the entire match and avoid the [most] errors possible.
