Rafael Nadal wins in Madrid homecoming, defeats 16-year-old American Darwin Blanch

Rafael Nadal enjoyed a triumphant return at the Mutua Madrid Open, overcoming Darwin Blanch, 6-1, 6-0 for his second match win since January.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion has heavily implied that 2024 will be his final season on tour, but a muscle tear picked up at the Brisbane International took him out of the Australian Open and BNP Paribas Open, sidelining him until last week when he competed at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

Shaking off a second-round loss to Alex de Minaur in Barcelona, Nadal eased passed his 16-year-old opponent, who was born over two years after Nadal won his first Grand Slam title, to book a rematch with the Aussie in 63 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium.

Blanch, a Florida-born lefty who has served as a hitting partner for Carlos Alcaraz where they train at the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy, became the second youngest player in ATP history to earn a ranking point when, at 14 years and five months, he won an M15 ITF match in 2022. He made his ATP main-draw debut last month at the Miami Open—where he lost in the first round to Tomas Machac—and received a wild card into the men’s singles draw in Madrid, going viral for sharing his surprise at drawing Nadal as his first-round opponent.

That shock had hardly worn off by the time the American teen took the court against Nadal, who has won the Madrid title five times in his 20 years on tour. For his part, Nadal appeared undaunted by the prospect of facing an opponent more than half his age and promptly raced out to a 3-0 lead. Though Blanch got on the board with a hold, Nadal continued a largely uninterrupted march to victory, sweeping the opening set in 28 minutes and nabbing a triple-break in the second.

With his wife and child watching from the stands, Nadal showed signs of his imperious best as he stepped to the line with a 5-0 lead, easing to match point from 15-30 down. Blanch saved one but Nadal quickly earned a second off a netted backhand slice. The 37-year-old made no mistake this time, earning a service winner to secure victory with the loss of just one game.

Waiting for Nadal in the second round will be the 10th-seeded De Minaur, who earned a bye and scored a win over the Spaniard only last week in Barcelona.