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Rafael Nadal wasn't far from his best but was still good enough to beat teenager Darwin Blanch 6-1, 6-0 in the first round of the Madrid Masters.
Playing just his third tournament of the season, the 37-year-old Nadal did not work his full serve or strokes, but still lost one game to the 16-year-old player.
“I think today I played against an opponent who has a great future ahead of me, but today I still make mistakes. I just tried to be there, be solid all the time, without taking much risk,” Nadal told the ATP. “It worked well. I'm glad to retire and wish him all the best for the future.”
Nadal benefited from 15 unforced errors in the first match against the American left-hander, who trains at the Ferrero Academy.
“Obviously it wasn't my best day in terms of level, I feel like I didn't play my best,” Blanch commented. “But obviously it was a really, really good experience. I was very happy to have the opportunity to play Nadal in such a stadium, so I will try to make the most of it.
“Honestly, a lot of kids my age don’t experience that with so many people around. So it was definitely nice to experience that.”
Nadal, the five-time Madrid champion, will now get a rematch on Saturday with Alex De Minaur, who defeated the clay king in Barcelona last week.
In the women's draw, the seeds entered the court and Coco Gauff went undefeated in a game, beating Arantxa Rus 6-0, 6-0 to claim her first double bagel.
“I played very well today. She’s a great and strong competitor, especially on clay, but for me it was just one of those days,” Gauff said afterwards. “Oooh, I've never done this before and I'll probably never do it again.
“I knew how she would play. I know she grinds, scores a lot of balls on the court and likes to play hard, but I just felt like this is something I can do well too. I felt like I could play more and playing against Brenda to scout her out kind of helped.”
Iga Swiatek beat Xia Wang 6-1, 6-4 and Maria Sakkari beat Donna Vekic 6-3, 6-2. In the match of the day, Naomi Osaka lost to Lyudmila Samsonova with a score of 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
Tomorrow, two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will make his 2024 European clay debut. He'll test that right forearm against Alexander Shevchenko.
Former tournament winner Alexander Zverev is also on the court along with Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune.
For the women, former winner Arina Sabalenka was joined on the tent by Stuttgart champion Elena Rybakina.
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