Darwin Blanch vs. Rafael Nadal - prediction, form, head-to-head

Two generations collide in a headline Madrid Open first-round match on Wednesday, as 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal takes on embryonic American wild card Darwin Blanch.

While Nadal is a five-time champion at the Masters tournament, his 16-year-old foe only has one ATP Tour match under his belt so far and surely could not have envisaged such a high-profile second.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2005 : Rafael Nadal's first Roland-Garros title <br>2007 : Darwin Blanch's year of birth <br><br>2023 Boy's singles semi-finalist 🆚 14-time Roland-Garros winner, what a matchup in the first round of the <a href="https://twitter.com/MutuaMadr . . .